The Day of The Falcon
by Naleky
Summary: He's a phantom. No one knows his face or his real name. And he never fails. Merlin is the most wanted master thief of the United Kingdom, a shadow that can't be caught and can't be stopped. But with Arthur Pendragon – the new head of the task force set out to capture him – Merlin might have just met his match. A breathtaking game of cat-and-mouse begins. Modern AU
1. Prologue

**Hello everybody!**

**Before you read this story, please note that  
A) English is not my first language,  
B) I have no clue about the British judicial system and police ranks and  
C) this is my first fanfiction.  
Please let me know what you think about my attempts at writing. Feedback, be it positive or negative, is very welcome.**

**A great thanks to my patient and helpful beta, Vernacular Jargon.**

**I do not own ****_Merlin_****.**

* * *

17.3.2012, 11.36 am

It wasn't a dark and stormy night. Neither was there a storm raging above the city, nor was it dark – or night for that matter. In fact, it was a warm, slightly clouded midmorning in March, a day like any other (if with less rain than other days), when an inconspicuous looking silhouette of a man carefully forced open the door that lead to the garden terrace and entered the large, expensive mansion.

The man had an air of confidence as he crossed the living room and headed straight towards the office. He could have found the way blind – the floor plan had been very helpful.

He entered the office, spared a quick glance for the massive oak desk standing on his right side, and then came to a halt in front of the wall located opposite to the desk to examine the (admittedly rather ugly) painting of a still life that hung there. Wasting no time, he grabbed the frame and lowered the painting to the ground.

A scornful snort broke the silence of the empty house.

The alarm system hadn't taken him more than a minute to crack and the safe that was now exposed was all but a joke. "Pity," the man thought, as he surveyed the door, _"I really thought the house of a Member of Parliament would be a bit more of a challenge. How disappointing." _He shrugged and set to work.

A few minutes later the man left the house the same way he came in, but with a heavy file full of extremely controversial paperwork safely tucked under his arm and a satisfied smile on his lips.

Meanwhile in the office, there was a small, brown and white striped feather of a falcon lying in the half opened safe. Its tip was gilded. Merlin had struck again.

* * *

**I know the prologue is very short, but the chapters will be much longer, I promise.**


	2. Chapter One

**Hello again. As promised, here is the (longer) chapter. **

**A short A/N: Please note that this is no slash. Also, I think I should mention that Merlin's name is inspired by the bird, not the wizard... I mean warlock.  
I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

11.4.2012, 7.58 am

The first thing to catch Arthur's attention as he entered his new office was the steaming cup of tea on his old, well-loved desk. He quickly crossed the room, snatched the cup, and took a large gulp.A small moan of pleasure escaped him as the tea ran down his throat and he drained the whole cup in seconds.

A soft chuckle coming from the door made him turn around. Gwen, who was leaning in his door frame, gave him a sweet smile and raised one eyebrow. "I take it I made it right. I thought you might need a good cup of tea, now that you are _Detective Chief Superintendent_ and head of our humble task force. Congratulations! How does it feel to be such a bigwig, huh?" she said in her best mocking voice – which wasn't really mocking at all since she was far too nice to make fun of anybody, even him.

Arthur felt a smile tugging at his lips. "I can practically _hear_ the capital letters, Gwen, you spend far too much time with Morgana. Also, don't count my chickens before they hatch. It's not as if this position is very sought-after right now. After the scandal with my predecessor, I've got a lot to deal with, a lot to prove. If I fail…"

Gwen tsked. "You won't. Merlin can't hide forever and if anyone is able to catch him, it's you, Arthur." The blonde man felt something warm unfurl in his belly at her confident words, but he couldn't help the frown that appeared on his face. "I'm flattered, Gwen, but it won't be easy. If it is possible at all. He stole political documents from an MP. He cracked his safe as if it was a nut! This guy is probably the best professional thief in the world and he's damn good at what he does."

"Yes he is, but so are you. Come on, Arthur, think positive." Arthur had to suppress a snort at that. This answer was just so typically Gwen.

"And also", she continued, "Caerleon was a dork. As far as I'm concerned, not a single tear was shed over his resignation."

"Oh, you weren't the only one. Far from it. What do you think, could we get Merlin to humiliate our **dearest** Prime Minister Bayard, too? We are in dire need of a new one, this one does nothing but to spout nonsense." Gwen giggled at the woman who had appeared behind her and who now threw a mischievous grin in Arthur's direction. The latter simply rolled his eyes, more amused than annoyed.

"Watch it, Morgana. He may be an imbecile, but he's paying our salaries." Arthur's eyes fell on the bulging file in her hands. "What is that?"

Morgana entered the office and let the file fall onto the desk with a loud thud. Then, she turned around and announced with a solemn voice (although her smirk betrayed that sobriety): "That, my dear almost-half-or-what-ever-brother, is the file that will dictate your life from now on. This," she dropped her voice to a low murmur and waggled her perfectly manicured eyebrows, "is the file of the special task 'Golden Feather,' or more precisely, the file of master thief Merlin. Exciting, isn't it? Not many have ever laid eyes on it. I have already skimmed through it, of course. It's almost funny how little we know about a person that has caused not only us, but also policemen all over the world so much trouble. I have to say, Arthur, good luck with that one."

She smirked her evil trademark smirk as she rounded the desk, let herself slump into his desk chair and leaned back. And how she managed to do so gracefully and without stopping to look unbearable smug, only heaven could tell. Gwen glared at her disapprovingly, but since it was Gwen it was less disapproving and more resigned, making Morgana's smirk even smugger.

Arthur picked the file up and looked at its cover. "If there is so little information of him, how come this file is so full?" he asked his evil and maybe a bit intimidating (not that he would ever admit that) half-sister, who unfortunately happened to be the crown prosecutor allocated for this case. Said evil harpy, as he liked to call her, looked at him as if he had lost his mind, or better, like he was a clueless five-year-old boy who had just asked a particularly stupid question.

"Well, Arthur, let me think. Um, maybe it's because there are no less than 167 known cases of theft in which not a single piece of useful evidence was found except, of course, a feather of a _falco columbarius_ – meaning a merlin – with a gilded tip. But maybe the chief constable just stuffed the file with old newspapers to make it look more impressive. Who knows?"

Arthur stared at her, feeling every bit as stupid as she probably thought him to be. "You seriously want to tell me that _every single theft he has ever committed_ has enough room in only **one** file?"

Gwen looked curious too, so it couldn't have been just him, but Morgana shook her head in disbelief of his slow-wittedness and her slightly amused irritation was clear in her voice when she said: "_Ar_thur, that's what I meant with 'no one knows anything about him.' There is nothing. And I mean literally nothing. There are no finger prints, no hair, no DNA, no photo, and even the very rare descriptions are of no help at all. Some even said that Merlin was a woman. No Identi-Kit is of any value because this guy changes his appearance like we change our clothes. He was described as a high school student, barely of age, or a business man in his prime of life, or even as an old pensioner. This man has, in the truest sense of the word, a thousand faces. It is almost like magic, the way this man can fool everyone. If it even is a man, come to think about it. For all we know, Merlin could easily be a woman."

Arthur looked down at the file and turned it in his hands. "No pressure there then. Thank you for your great support and motivation. I feel so much better now." He put as much sarcasm in his voice as he could. Gwen made a sympathetic noise but Morgana, that witch, only laughed. "Oh Arthur, don't feel so sorry for yourself, will you? It's ridiculous. Take that file, read through it and do something about the problem instead of pitying yourself. That's what you get paid for, after all. Also, I really want to be the person that has the honour of dragging Merlin in front of a court, so if you don't catch him for me, I will hold it against you and make your life miserable. Understood?"

"If anybody gets to drag him anywhere, it will be me since I will, you know, hunt him down. So don't get your hopes up. Also, you already make my life miserable- I've got nothing to lose. Now if you would be so kind, some of us have work to do." He held up the file and gave Morgana a meaningful look. In return, she just huffed amused and stood up.

"Well then, have fun reading. I'm off, doing something important and useful for our society." Raising a challenging eyebrow at Arthur and smiling at Gwen, she stalked out of the office in that self-confident and intimidating manner she had.

Gwen turned to leave as well, but stopped by the door. "Arthur?" she asked somewhat uncertain, "I… you may need to appoint a new team. I'm not sure if the old colleagues of 'Golden Feather' are still permitted… or even wish to work at the case any longer. And since I'm here for the coordination and organisation of the task force…"

Arthur smiled at her. He knew she was excited since this was the first time she really got to take over responsibility for a case. "I'll make sure to let you know my choices straight away." She smiled gratefully. "I know you will, thanks. Have fun reading."

And with that, she was out. Arthur took his seat behind the desk and opened the file. "Well, let's get started then."

* * *

11.4.2012, 1.40 pm

Merlin carried the dishes over to the sink and then went back to his desk where lots of papers were neatly spread out and covered most of the desk's surface. The papers were of various size, colour, and content.

At the thought that his newest client had delivered not only the demands but all the known information as well through a delivery boy, he snorted angrily. What an unnecessary risk! A _bike delivery boy_, and barely seventeen, too! He hadn't even needed to look into this boy's face to know he had grown suspicious, his body language had been more than clear. But of course he had grown suspicious! What did Aredian expect, sending such delicate information via _bike couriers_. The heavy, brown envelope had practically screamed: _'Attention, highly suspicious and probably illegal!'_

Merlin huffed in annoyance. A bloody amateur, that's what his client was! He decided to make some emergency plans in case he had to leave his current whereabouts in haste. Also, he would have to make sure that such an aggravating mishap never happened again. He refused to let himself become reckless. (A _bike courier_, honestly!) Shaking his head, he bent over the papers lying in front of him.

After reading through all of them for the umpteenth time, he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Right now, his hairstyle was a crop haircut, the colour a light brown, but he would have to change that eventually. He never kept an appearance for longer than five weeks, and it was time for him to change yet again. Maybe he would dye his hair blonde. Or dark blonde, at least. Maybe a new pair of contacts as well.

Merlin stared at the photograph of the woman he was hired to rob. He assumed most people would call her beautiful. After looking at it for some time, he closed his eyes and did what he does best. He thought and planned.

He thought about everything he knew about her and the coup, every word, every number, every detail, every newspaper article. Everything, no matter how small and trivial, wandered around in his head and passed his mind's eye. He thought about the necessary preparations, the means he was given as well as the ones he would have to obtain and about his couse of action.

After minutes in which he hadn't stirred once, lost in thoughts, juggling with facts and figures in his mind, he finally sighed and opened his eyes. He had to contact Aredian. There was no way he could finish the job in a satisfying manner within the given time. It just wasn't enough.


	3. Chapter Two

14.4.2012, 3.09 pm

Arthur groaned and dropped his head on the desk. It gave a dull 'domp' and made the teacup on his left quiver. It was three days into his new position and he already felt overextended and a tiny bit desperate.

Merlin's file had proven to be exactly as useless as Morgana had said it would be. There were no indicators, no evidence, not even a small hint. Merlin was a shadow. A very fast, very good, very _thieving_ shadow nobody had ever come close to. It was hopeless. Except…

Arthur sat up straight and thoughtfully eyed the file and the newspapers lying on his desk. The conversation of the previous day kept running through his mind.

* * *

_He hadn't been surprised to get a call from Anhora Keeper, his predecessor, who wanted to meet him. He had expected to meet with him to discuss the case and to hear about Anhora's personal gut instincts and assessment of Merlin. What he hadn't expected, however, was the conversation that had followed._

_"You know, I knew something like this would happen. I knew sooner or later, Merlin would somehow get me to step down as team leader of the GF team." __**"GF?"**__ Arthur had asked, confused. Anhora had chuckled faintly. "'Golden Feather'. My team and I, we just called the case GF and our task force the TGF, the Team Golden Feather._

_"Anyway, I knew that day would come. So I prepared myself for it. And I tried to find someone to take over for me. I requested you as my replacement in front of the chief constable himself and made provisions to make the restaffing of the TGF as unproblematic as possible."_

_At this, Arthur frowned. "But if you knew this would happen, why didn't you try to prevent it? And why would you want me, of all people, to take your place?"_  
_Anhora gave him a small smile. "I didn't know _what_ he was planning to do, I just knew he was planning _something_. It had gone on for too long. I think he grew bored._

_"This is like a game for him, you know. We are all just playing a great game of tag. And I wasn't a match for him any longer. This theft, this provocation to steal these documents from right under my nose, was his way of telling me that I'm out. I lost the game." Anhora paused. Arthur took a sip of his tea and stared out of the window, deep in thought. He was harshly startled back into reality by Anhora, who slammed his own mug of coffee down on the table, making Arthur jump in surprise._

_"I didn't order you here to tell you this, though. What I want to tell you is far more important, so listen carefully. This theft, these scandalous documents of the MP the whole media keeps talking about, it wasn't the worst thing to happen. There is something big ahead of us, and it's coming fast. My resignation was just the beginning. I know Merlin, I know him better than most. And I tell you: be careful. He is planning something. Something big, outrageous, and I just _know_ it won't be pretty. His hardest blow is yet to come, so keep your eyes and ears open._

_"I wasn't able to keep up with Merlin. But if there is any person who is able to be a match for him or to even outwit him, it is going to be you, Pendragon._  
_"And now, if you could excuse me, I really have to go. Have a nice day and remember: keep your eyes open."_

_That being said, Anhora stood up and left the room, leaving a dumbfounded, gapping Arthur behind._

* * *

"Morning, Arthur! How's the revision going?" Arthur jumped in his seat as the door burst open and Gwaine came strolling in. "Gwaine, for fuck's sake! Was it really necessary to startle me like that?" he growled. Gwaine simply grinned a shit-eating grin and shrugged. Then, he dropped into the chair opposite of Arthur's and snatched the file from the desk.

"Now, now. Is that a way to treat your devoted friend and helper in every condition of life?"  
"Gwaine, you aren't devoted to anything but alcohol and pretty women, nor are you any kind of help whatsoever. So shut it and tell me about your research already, will you?" Arthur tried hard to keep a straight face, but he couldn't suppress his smile. Gwaine had been beside himself with excitement when Arthur had taken him into his new team to do the research. He could be a real pain in the backside, but he was one of London's finest researchers and knew the archive of London's police better than anyone.

As Gwaine fiddled with the file and nattered about how difficult it was to get decent information about Merlin ("More than three hundred news articles about this guy and they are all useless! Not a single one with credible information!"), Arthur thought about the new members of the task force, the new TGF. The choice to make Gwen the new team organiser hadn't been a hard one. She loves to coordinate everything she can in their department. She also makes the best coffee.  
Gwaine was responsible for all needed research and information from sources not included in the sparse file. Arthur had first met him at the police academy where the both of them had started a rather weird friendship, which mainly consisted of Gwaine getting them in trouble and Arthur getting them out again.  
Another friend from the academy was Lance, who was now part of the team as well. He, along with Leon and Percy, would do most of the field work. Leon was the oldest member of the team, which was quite remarkable, given that he had celebrated his thirty-fourth birthday only recently. Arthur himself had turned twenty-nine a few months ago. Gwen and Gwaine were the only ones younger than him, both being at the age of twenty-eight.

The last member was Elyan, who was their computer specialist. He also was quite a skilled hacker, though that bit wasn't officially acknowledged, of course. He and Gwen were siblings. They both had wanted to join the police since the incident with their father back when they had been children. Tom had once been victim of grievous bodily harm and was now paralysed from the waist down.

They all were young, but talented, and experts in their fields. Arthur knew that many old and experienced policemen frowned at this admittedly extraordinary young team, thinking that the search for Merlin would require more than a bunch of verdant greenhorns. But whatever their actual opinions were, nobody dared to say them aloud.

Other policemen probably kept quiet because Morgana and her unofficial mentor, Helios, spoke very highly of Arthur and his new-found task force. Helios was one of the most successful and most feared crown prosecutors of all Britain and Morgana was well on her way to gain the same reputation. Together, they were a force to be reckoned with. And Morgana and Arthur, despite all the arguments and disagreements they had, were really close.

Most of the time, they just wanted to bite each other's head off, but in times of need, they would do virtually everything to help the other, so Arthur wouldn't be surprised to learn that Morgana had threatened each and every person in the whole building who had dropped a cutting remark about him with her dangerously high and pointed stiletto heels. It was just something she would do without a second thought. (She had already done it one time, although unfortunately it had been Arthur on the receiving end. He still had a scar on his left foot.)

"Oi there! Are you even listening?" Again, Arthur was jolted out of his thoughts by an indignant looking Gwaine, who was waving his hands around in front of Arthur's face. Arthur blinked and smiled apologetically. "Sorry Gwaine, lost in thoughts. What were you saying?" Gwaine threw the file on the desk. "I was asking why there are newspapers lying next to this file, sleepy head."

The blonde detective sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm looking for clues. I'm not sure, it's nothing more than a gut instinct. _Something_ tells me his next job will be something even more insolent than these stolen documents. I think this scandal with the MP was just a distraction to keep us busy, so he has carte blanche. And it's going to happen soon. I read his file, Gwaine. It's uncharacteristic for him to strike two times in such a short time. This MP scandal was only three and a half week after his last coup. He wants to overstrain us so we are unprepared for his next move."

"Ah, I see. So you search the papers for something worthy of demanding such a distraction. Found anything?" Without waiting for an answer, he grabbed the newspapers and flipped the first one open. Arthur snorted and snatched it back, opening it on page five to reveal an article that was marked with a red pencil.  
"This one is the only one I thought valuable and insolent enough. But remember, it's only a feeling. I could be completely wrong for all we know."

Gwaine leant over the desk to have a better look at the circled article. He raised his eyebrows. "Well, this _is_ valuable. But what do you want to do? Speak with the owner? Observe her house? That could get you into a lot of trouble. Nimueh Priest is infamous for being a man-eating fury."

"I know," Arthur groaned, "It's quite a predicament. I can't just go to her and tell her 'Oh hey, I think you might be robbed by Merlin in the foreseeable future'. If I'm wrong, Priest will have my head. But if my gut feeling proves to be right and I didn't do anything, she will have my head, too."

Gwaine shrugged. "I say, speak to her. Tell her to be extra vigilant, to check her alarm system and so on. If she refuses to listen to you, it's her own fault." He stood up, stretched his legs and made his way to the door. "I'm out. You should tell Morgana about your suspicion. If she discovers you did something behind her back, she'll make your life a living hell."

Arthur snorted. "More than she already does? That's hardly possible. Thanks, Gwaine. Maybe you're right. I'll try and speak to Miss Priest.  
After Gwaine had left, Arthur slumped back into his chair and stared at the file. "What is it that you plan, Merlin? What goes around in this brilliant head of yours?"

* * *

14.4.2012, 7.24 pm

Merlin was exasperated. His last communication with Aredian and his brainless prize idiot of a minion, Cendred, had been highly unsatisfying. In fact, the only positive thing to come out of this matter had been Aredian's outburst when he had learnt that Cendred had sent the information via bike courier.

Since they had talked over the phone (Merlin never met his clients face to face if it wasn't absolutely necessary), Merlin hadn't been able to hear all of Aredian's shouting, but at least he could be sure that such a mistake wouldn't be made again anytime soon. He had almost felt sorry for Cendred- Aredian seemed to have quite a temper.

Any kind of sympathy had vanished, however, as he himself had become the target of Aredian's anger. After he had announced that he needed more time to prepare, his already irritated client had snapped and resorted to shout at him instead of Cendred for no less than seven minutes and twenty-four seconds, in which Merlin had done what he always did if somebody got on his nerves.

He calculated. He picked a random, five-digit number and began to calculate. Extract a root, multiply with Pi (rounded to ten decimal figures), divide with the current time, square the digit sum. All while simultaneously counting the seconds Aredian wasted with shouting rude threats. (Merlin would never take such savage and filthy phrases into his mouth. He was, after all, a sophisticated person.)

Merlin wasn't that fond of mathematics – he preferred straight reasoning – but juggling with figures kept him busy and prevented him from hanging up on particularly unnerving clients. Aredian was willing to pay handsomely, but he was stubborn and vain and he wouldn't take 'no' for an answer.

This was the reason why Merlin currently sat in one of his six hideouts, head buried deep in plans, information and calculations, thinking and preparing frenziedly. As much as he loathed his client, he had accepted Aredian's job and was determined to go through with it.  
He had never failed before, and he certainly didn't intent to start now.

* * *

**Tadah! I actually managed to make this one longer than 2,000 words.  
A great thanks to my Beta _Vernacular Jargon_ again.  
**


	4. Chapter Three

**It's monday already?! What happened to my weekend?**

**Attention, fairly important A/N: I was asked a few times, so I thought I might as well write into the chapter: No, Merlin DOESN'T have magic in this story, I'm afraid. Just a very, very, very big brain. And loads of cool stuff I should never be permitted to lay my hands on for the sake of the public good.**

**Have fun reading!**

* * *

22.4.2012, 11.16 pm

The alarm screeched shrill and adamant. Various lights flashed red and orange and sirens were wailing, coming faster with every passing second. The first police car arrived with squealing tyres and a blonde man jumped out of the vehicle, sprinting towards the mansion, which was alight with warning lights.

Merlin stood at the crossroad about two hundred meters down the street and watched as the man came to a halt in front of the front door and rang the bell like crazy. Not two seconds later, the door burst open and three people came into view.

Pulling the hood of his dark green sweater over his head, Merlin turned around and walked away. He made sure not to walk too hasty or tense and to force his shoulders down in a relaxed and unsuspicious manner.

Inside, however, he was seething. How could this have happened? He had never, ever under no circumstances failed. _Never_. And now here he was, running away from the scene of the crime without the desired item in his bag.

What on earth had gone so wrong? He had shut all alarm systems down, he was absolutely sure of it. He had double- and triple-checked for additional alarm systems. There had been nothing. It shouldn't have happened like this. Damn, it shouldn't have been _possible_! The alarm that had alerted not only the police but the two security guards as well who had chased him off simply hadn't _been there_ only two days ago! Neither had Nimueh employed security guards.

Shoving his hands deep into his pockets, Merlin turned left into a small byroad. A thousand questions whirled around in his head as he strolled down the alley. Every little detail of the abortive coup replayed itself in his mind but he couldn't for the life of him figure out where he had made a mistake. The plan had been impeccable.

Merlin sighed. The analysis of his failure would have to wait. Right now, Aredian was the greater problem. How on earth could he explain to his client that he wasn't able to deliver the desired goods?

The thief shook his head in despair. "Aredian will be furious…"

* * *

23.4.2012, 7.56 am

Arthur stormed into Morgana's office and slammed the newspaper on her desk. He fought hard not to burst into a victory dance. "You see this? _'Master Thief Merlin Outwitted!'_ And I was the one who did it! The first time he failed, ever, and I'm responsible. It's like Christmas and birthday falling on the same date!"

Morgana did nothing but to raise one eyebrow in a very Gaius-worthy manner. "Well hooray, Arthur. If you're quite done admiring your perfect self, you can go back to work and think of another great plan that will actually _catch_ Merlin instead of chasing him away." She took a sip of her coffee and applied herself to the file she had been reading before Arthur had come barging in.

Instead of bickering back, Arthur just grinned (and if it looked a bit deranged, Morgana didn't mention it). He knew this was the closest to a compliment he would get from Morgana; that was the way their relationship worked, after all.

"I know you're secretly proud of me, Morgana, don't try to deny it. Also, we are all going to the pub to celebrate. If you want to join us, we meet at Mary's after work. The first round is on me."

Morgana snorted. "Jesus, Arthur. You're so full of yourself. I'll come, alright? Now make yourself useful and go back to work. I'm busy, as you can see." She held up the file and gave him a chiding look. Arthur just grinned and left the office. The newspaper was left lying on the desk. Morgana shook her head, smiled and took it up. Without sparing a glance, she threw it into the bin. She had already read the article. Twice. Not that Arthur needed to know that. No need to make his ego even bigger.

* * *

23.4.2012, 8.42 pm

Merlin eyed himself in the mirror. He now had dirty blonde hair and watery blue-grey eyes. Instead of the sweater he wore a plain grey suit and glasses. His latex mask made him look like an average forty-years old. Normal job, normal live, normal family and all in all boring. Just what he needed right now. He checked his pockets although he knew exactly what they contained. Keys, his wallet and a pepper spray, just in case Aredian got a little bit too angry.

He didn't own any real weapons, he never had and he never would. Violence was a taboo for Merlin. He was a thief, yes, but he would never hurt another person if it wasn't absolutely necessary for his freedom or survival. And he had vowed to himself that he would never, not matter what, kill another human being.

Merlin clenched his fists as the unwanted memories came back into his mind. These painful, hated, nearly but never really repressed memories. Crying children, bruised and bloodied faces and Will's eyes, so cold and lifeless.

Merlin shook his head vigorously. That had been long ago, in a life he fought hard to forget. It was rare that he remembered. Most of the time, he effectively forgot his old life and everything to do with it. Most of the time, he could tell himself that he had never lived that life. He was good at that, good at lying to himself, just as good as he was at lying to others. Merlin unclenched his fists and took a deep breath. He didn't have time for this. He had to go and face his client, the first client he had ever disappointed.

Eighteen minutes and thirty-six seconds later, he entered the pub he had chosen for the meeting with Aredian.

* * *

23.4.2012, 9.02 pm

Aredian did not even try to contain his anger. And being cramped into a small booth in a dirty pub did nothing to calm him down, either. Cenred, who sat beside him, was twitching nervously. _'Good,'_ Aredian thought, _'Serves him right, that little sissy.'_

The target of his anger, however, seemed rather unimpressed. Merlin had come to the tick on the arranged time, sat opposite to them and excused his failure as polite and as short as grammatically possible. Now he nursed his water and waited for Aredian's temper tantrum to begin. And a temper tantrum he would damn well get.

Aredian slammed his glass down with as much force as possible and hissed angrily: "You told me you could get me what I want. You _told me_ you could get me this fucking necklace! And here I am, reading in the newspaper about this failure of the _great master thief Merlin_. So what, WHAT do you have to say for your defence!?"

The thief eyed him intensely. There was a hint of wariness in his eyes, interest maybe, but no fear. And that made Aredian angry. He would make this bastard regret to cross him.

Finally, Merlin pushed his glass away with his index finger and fixed his gaze at Aredian. "I am sorry to disappoint you. There were unforeseen circumstances I wasn't prepared for. It seems to me that Nimueh Priest must have gotten a tip or a forewarning and became cautious. I do not know, however, who could have been the alerter." The thief leant a tiny bit back and observed his outraged client.

Cenred, who seemed to notice the almost tangible tension between thief and client, decided to intervene if only to avoid attracting attention, because Aredian was on the verge of bursting. "And what were these, you know, '_unforeseen circumstances_', if I may ask?"

The answer was as precise and confident as Merlin himself. "Miss Priest added another alarm system to the already existing ones. Also, she hired two security guards. These guards were able to interrupt my work, forcing me to retreat before I was able to complete the task and acquire the necklace."

Aredian stared at the thief with outrage and incredulity. "You seriously want to tell me that you failed me because some security guards _scared you off_!?"

"Yeah," Cenred snarled, "Why didn't you just kill them and get the job done?" At this sentence, Merlin finally showed some emotions. He looked utterly disgusted. But as sudden as it had appeared the expression vanished again. Merlin glared daggers at Cenred and said with an icy voice: "You know, Mr. King, as a thief I have seen many objects of value. I stole some of the most valuable objects in Great Britain. But there is nothing on this world that could possibly be valuable enough to be worth the death of a human being. Or would you willingly give your life for some sparkling piece of jewellery?"

Cenred snapped his mouth shut and tried to consider the question he was given. Aredian did no such thing. He was bristling with rage. Scraping up the last of his patience, he leant over the table as far as possible until his face was less than two inches away from Merlin's. The latter did not flinch, but Aredian noticed with great satisfaction the stiffening of the other man's body. "I do not care what you deem valuable, _Merlin_. So listen to me very carefully. You will bring me this necklace, and you will bring it to me in less than two weeks. Otherwise, the consequences of your failure will be extremely unpleasant. _Do I make myself clear?_"

Merlin didn't even blink at this blatant threat. He merely took another sip of his water and said in a calm and controlled voice: "I'm afraid that won't be possible, Mister. Now that the police knows of the hazard, it won't be possible for me to strike again. Not in the foreseeable future, at least. The soonest I could try again would be a year at the earliest. Everything else would be foredoomed to fail."

"One year? ONE YEAR!?" Aredian fulminated, "Are you fucking kidding me? I will not wait a year for you to get your head out of your sodding ass! You will bring me the necklace in two weeks, period. If you refuse to do so, I will hunt you down and tear you apart in the most slow and agonising way I can think of. And I swear, when I'm done with you, you will _beg_ for death."

The thief's face remained stony. He leant back in his seat and emptied his glass whilst contemplating his options. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking about. But suddenly, an idea seemed to have struck. He sat bolt upright and straightened his shoulders, an indefinable gleam in his eyes.

"What if…" he trailed off, seemingly deep in thought, "What if I can offer you something that is of even more value than the necklace? If I can get you something that other people would pay millions of pounds for? Something you could get really, really rich with. It would take more than two weeks, obviously, but would you – theoretically – be satisfied with such a compensation?"

Aredian frowned and felt Cenred shift beside him. "What kind of compensation is this?" he asked cautiously, but with a certain curiosity.  
Merlin grinned mischievously. "Oh, it is invaluable…"

* * *

**I just realised that Chapter Two didn't have any real paragraphs. At all. I'm too stupid for my computer.  
Anyway, I hopefully managed to correct it. Feel free to laugh at me if I failed.**


	5. Chapter Four

**And here it is, the next chapter.  
A massive Thank You to everyone who has reviewed or followed this story. You guys make my day!**

* * *

6.5.2012, 9.31 am

It had been two weeks. Two weeks since Arthur had thwarted Merlin's coup. Two weeks since Great Britain's most feared master thief had failed for the first time. And two weeks since he had disappeared without a trace and – more importantly – without any hint for his further plans.

It had been two hours since the letter arrived. Arthur stared at it, frustrated. The envelope was just as plain white and normal as the letter itself. Both items sat on his desk, along with a slender feather with a golden tip. All in all, they looked perfectly innocent and belied the unusualness of the situation. The letter had been written at the computer. It looked like any other formal letter, but its content was outrageous. It was a letter from Merlin.

_Dear Mr. Pendragon,_  
_I congratulate you on this remarkable success__**;**__ it was indeed an excellent stroke. You can clap yourself on the shoulder._  
_Since it wasn't possible for me to transact my business satisfyingly, I deem it only fair for you to receive the feather that was made for Miss Priest in the first place. Think of it as a token of my respect. Only time will tell if you deserve it._  
_The game has begun and I shall enjoy our rivalry. It seems like you could prove to be an interesting challenge. I wish you luck, for you will need it. May the best man win._  
_Not yet yours, but sincerely_  
_Merlin  
_  
Arthur took the feather between his thumb and index finger and studied it intensely. Merlin had clearly challenged him and he had no intentions of turning that challenge down. The only problem was that he had absolutely no idea how to win this battle of wits. Merlin always seemed to be several steps ahead of the police. Arthur was beginning to get desperate.

And of course, because the universe hated him, Morgana chose exactly that moment to enter his office. It took her less than a second to suss things out and Arthur could literally _feel_ the smugness radiating from her.

"What is this? The great Arthur Pendragon, genius policeman and defeater of Merlin is at his wits' end. I think I'll have to make a photo and frame it. I take it catching Merlin isn't as easy as you thought it to be, right? But don't you worry, you wouldn't be the first one to fail because of him." She crossed the room and leant onto Arthur's desk, smirking.

Arthur chose not to dignify that with an answer and stared at Merlin's letter instead. Morgana already knew about the letter, of course. The whole bloody department knew. And everyone was excited. Merlin had never contacted an adversary before and the hopes were high that Arthur would make the impossible possible and catch the master thief. Arthur sighed.

"That's exactly what I will do. I'm not going to catch him, am I? I'll fail just as all my predecessors did. And then I – ow!" Arthur rubbed his head where Morgana had just hit him and glared at her. "What was that for?"

"For being so insufferably self-pitying. It's no wonder you're not making any progress if all you can do is to sit here and bawl like a petulant child."

"And what do you want me to do, if I may ask? I haven't go the slightest idea where Merlin might be or what he intends to do. How am I supposed to find him if I don't know where to look?" Arthur snapped back. But before Morgana got the change to fire back a cutting remark, he shook his head and said tiredly: "Please, Morgana, I'm not in the mood for this. Just leave it, okay?"

Sensing her half-brother's depressed mood, Morgana swallowed whatever had been on the tip of her tongue and sat down opposite of him. "Alright Arthur, what's troubling you? You're miserable and it's making me sick, so spit it out."

Arthur sighed. "It's nothing, really… just, when he had to run, I thought… I thought this may have been something father would have been proud of. That he would have been proud of me. And now that Merlin is evading us once again… it's just disappointing, that's all. I know it's silly, but – well, it is silly. Forget about it."

"You think that you are disappointing Uther." Every trace of mirth had vanished from Morgana's eyes. Now she just looked sad and a bit compassionate. "Jesus, Arthur. You know Uther has always been proud of you. He just wasn't able to show it. And I know his death has hurt you a lot – still hurts you – but you have to let go. And when you're going to catch Merlin-"

"_If_ I'm going to catch him," Arthur threw in bitterly.

Morgana, of course, ignored him. "_When_ you're doing it, you're doing it for yourself, not for Uther. I don't want you to forget him, but you have to get over it. I mean, we two grew up together and you wouldn't shed a single tear for me, would you?" She smirked.

Arthur couldn't help but laugh. "But that's because you're a heartless harpy and a very cruel woman. Plus, when we were kids, you always stole my toys or broke them. And you painted my face with Sharpie when I was asleep. And you shaved off my hair once. Oh, and that time you hired a bully to scare away my girlfriend? That was low."

Morgana snickered. "Oh, yes. I remember that one, it was really good fun. And don't tell me you aren't grateful in retrospect; Sophia was a bitch with the intellect of a cereal box. Also, you deserved everything. It's not like you were a paragon of innocence or dovishness**, **either."

Just as Arthur opened his mouth for a witty remark, the door opened and Leon came walking in. His serious and worried look immediately shut both half-siblings up. Arthur frowned. "What's the matter, Leon? You look like the Crown Jewels have been stolen."

"It's not quite that bad, but it isn't very pleasant, either." Leon held up a piece of paper. "It's a delicate matter. And it saddles us with a lot of work. Work we really don't need right now." At this, Arthur and Morgana sat up straight and looked at Leon expectantly. Leon slammed the paper down on the desk. "This is top secret. Morgana, I must ask you to leave this room. Arthur, you should get the rest of the team. This is serious."

Morgana didn't look too happy, but after squeezing Arthur's shoulder shortly (and quite painfully) and giving Leon a short nod, she left the room with the words: "I'll let Gwen and Lance know. Arthur, think about what I told you." She closed the door, leaving a serious Leon and a worried Arthur behind.

* * *

6.5.2012, 9.47 am

The courier glanced around and then opened the door to get into the massively armoured van. He sat down on the passenger seat and laid the briefcase that was chained to him into his lap. The driver started the engine and growled: "Was 'bout fuckin' time you showed up. Where the hell've you been? I've been waitin' here forever."

The courier eyed the handcuff that bound the briefcase to his wrist and grumbled: "It wasn't my fault, alright? The courier that should have done this in the first place can't come. Water-pipe burst or something like that. They called me just half an hour ago. I came as fast as I could, so calm down, will you? I just want to get over with it and go back home, this chain is extremely uncomfortable."

The driver snorted. "Posh one, aren't you? But okay, the sooner we get this soddin' job done, the better, eh?" The courier gave a curt nod.  
The driver manoeuvred the van with ease through London's heavy traffic. He lit up a cigarette – despite the murderous looks his fellow passenger gave him – and muttered: "So, this your first job, erm… what's your name again, mate? I'm Marcus, by the way."

"Robin. And I'm not your mate," was the short answer.

The driver sniffed. "You're a bit bitchy I see. Alright, if you don' wanna talk..." The courier didn't answer and began to fiddle with the chain instead. The rest of the ride, both men remained silent.

* * *

6.5.2012, 10.14 am

"So let me get this straight," Elyan said slowly, as if he still hadn't assimilated the news. "There is a memory chip. On this chip, there is a lot of very important information about our defence system and military, which we aren't allowed to know because it is so _top-secret_. And someone tried to steal this memory chip, but failed. And now the guys from the MOD who were responsible for watch this memory chip want to take it and bring it to us. Which is only logical since a transport van is so much harder to assault than a high-security police strongroom."

Gwaine grinned. "But Elyan, mate, that doesn't matter. The big guys only want to get rid of the responsibility. If this thief/terrorist/anti-militarist or whatever tries again and is successful, the shit will hit the fan, big time. But it will be our fan, not theirs. And _that_, my friend, is the important bit." The rest of the team agreed.

In the letter, the move had been justified with the explanation to "_confuse the possible threat"_ and that their department was the only one nearby with a secure enough strongroom. But the real reason was obvious: They needed a scapegoat in case something went wrong. And what better choice than the team of greenhorns that had only recently gained such a good press?

Lance leant forward and frowned. "Well, as inconvenient as it is, there is little we can change about it. I think the best we can do now is to keep the memory chip safe. Merlin will just have to wait." At this, Arthur scrowled. "I am as displeased with this as you are, Arthur, but it seems the chip is paramount."

"He's right, Arthur. The chip won't stay here forever and we can't do anything about it. So let's just make the best out of it, right?" Gwen piped in.

Gwaine's grin widened. "Give it up, Gwen. We all know you just side with him because you two are arse over tit into each other." Gwen slapped him, but he just continued to smirk like the Cheshire Cat.

The door opened and Annis Caerleon, head of their police station and senior detective, came in. She looked grim. "Arthur. I take it you are discussing the situation with your team?" The round nodded. "Good. I am as dissatisfied as you are, but there is no changing it now. The courier will arrive in less than a quarter-hour. I trust you to take good care of this chip. I'm sorry for this nuisance."

Arthur shrugged. "It wasn't your fault. We'll just have to delay further actions against Merlin. We will get him eventually. It's just a matter of time."  
Annis gave him a small smile and a sharp nod. "I have every faith in you and the TGF."

Elyan groaned. "Geez, no! Not you too! Everyone in the whole building calls us TGF by now. That's ridiculous!"  
"Yeah," Gwaine cut in, "Why don't we get a cool nickname? Like, I don't know, the _Baddy-Busting Birdcatchers_." The whole table catcalled loudly and threw bits of papers at Gwaine.

Annis shook her head fondly and left the room. She only just heard Gwaine's protest ("That name's brilliant! You're just barbarians, the whole lot of you!") before the door snapped shut.


	6. Chapter Five

**Hello again! And a GIGANT thank you to my reviewers! Special thanks to 'Sam' (I'm still all gaga over your awesome feedback!) and - of course - my beta 'Vernacular Jargon'.**

* * *

6.5.2012, 1.52 pm

Arthur eyes the courier suspiciously. He was about his height, had an indifferent face and could be any age between thirty and sixty. He was one of these people you see every day and forget almost immediately afterwards. The perfect bearer of highly important and dangerous objects.

He had kept a completely straight face during the whole handover. Now he was standing in front of the strongroom where the briefcase was safely locked up, rubbing his wrist and looking around uninterestedly. All in all, he didn't seem to be overly concerned, nor really professional.

_"Perhaps,"_ Arthur thought,_ "they didn't tell him what he was transporting. He seems to be very calm for a replacement courier that just had a top secret memory chip chained to his wrist."_

The guy (What was his name again? It was just as indifferent as the face.) stuffed his hands into his pockets and asked, "Any chance you can show me the bathroom? The whole thing was quite hasty and the driver has forbidden any stopovers."

_"Definitely not in the know then,"_ Arthur thought. Out aloud, he said, "Of course. Just go down the corridor, it's the second to last door on the left side." The courier nodded, murmured a goodbye, and went his way.

After one last glance at the strongroom and its controversial content, Arthur sighed and left for his office.

* * *

6.5.2012, 2.05 pm

Once the door of the toilet stall was firmly closed, Merlin allowed himself a smile. Everything went according to plan. He bent down to retrieve the bag he had hidden between the bin liner and dustbin. It was small and flat, but its contents were necessary for his next move.

He opened the bag and piled the equipment on the closed toilet lid. A small mirror, a grey wig, spirit gum and a mask were laid onto the cold, white plastic. Merlin took off his tattered old jacket, pulled down the wig and yanked off the mask he was currently wearing in one fluid, skilful movement. After changing the contacts, he carefully stuck a different mask to his face and bewigged himself once more.

The nondescript courier was gone. An elderly man with a furrowed face and dark eyes had taken his place. He was now wearing a white shirt of the kind London's policemen used, which had been hidden beneath the ill-fitting jacket. It even had a police badge embroidered on the breast pocket.

The courier-cum-policeman shoved the worn wig and mask along with the jacket back into the bag and opened the door of the toilet stall. He regarded himself in the mirror and then fished a lighter and a small screwdriver out of his pocket.

It took Merlin less than a minute to unscrew the ventilation grid as he stood on the toilet. He quickly stuffed the bag into the shaft and lit it with the lighter. Then, he hastily fastened the grid back on the wall with two screws. That being done, he left the toilet. According to his calculations, the bag would set the fire alarm off in less than two minutes. By then, he had to be in close proximity to the safe, or all his efforts would be for nothing.

Although he let no emotion show on his face, Merlin was inwardly grinning like a loon. He knew it was unprofessional and he really shouldn't enjoy it that much, but he couldn't help it. It was the first time in years he had felt this abuzz.

_"You may have won one battle, Arthur Pendragon, but you haven't won the war yet. And now, it's my turn."_

* * *

6.5.2012, 2.48 pm

Arthur was fairly sure that the whole universe hated him. One second, he was sitting in his office reading through Nimueh Priest's testimony and the next second, the world was on fire. Literally.

The fire alarm screeched with an ear-deafening volume. People were running all over the place, some in panic, some just confused. Chaos and panic spread out. And there was shouting. Lots and lots of shouting. The whole building seemed to have gone mad.

Arthur tried to cut his way through the crowd in search of the cause for all this haywire. But suddenly, a thought struck him. Horrified, he froze in the middle of the corridor like a deer caught in the headlights.

_"The chip!"_ he thought frantically. Then, he broke into a run, shouting at everyone who got in his way and praying to every god he could think of that he wasn't too late.

* * *

6.5.2012, 3.17 pm

As it turned out, Arthur was too late. By the time he reached the strongroom, the fire brigade had arrived and the chaos had mostly ebbed away. Most of the people had escaped the building and a small trail of smoke wafted through the corridors.

The door of the strongroom was ajar.

Arthur took a deep breath to steel himself for the imminent disaster and entered the strongroom. His eyes found the place where he had deposited the briefcase.

It was… still there.

Arthur's heart missed a beat. Slowly, he advanced the briefcase and examined it. It was tightly closed and the locks were still intact. With trembling fingers, Arthur fished the key out of his pocket and carefully opened the briefcase. In the middle of the padding lay the memory chip.

Arthur sighed with relief. But still, his nerves were on edge. There was this uneasy feeling of _wrong_ in his guts and he had this distinct feeling that something was off. Arthur closed the briefcase and picked it up. He would find out what was wrong with it later. Now, he had the fire brigade to deal with.

* * *

6.5.2012, 6.30 pm

The fire had been started in the men's bathroom. The fire fighters had found the sorry remains of a cloth bag which had been soaked with acetone. The bag, along with all its contents, had burned completely. All that was left was a lump of latex, plastic and bits of metal. Of course, there was no DNA or fingerprints.

Arthur had summoned an emergency meeting with his team in his office. They now all sat around Arthur's table and watched tensely as Arthur opened the briefcase and took out the memory chip. He slowly slid the chip in his computer and opened the file.

On the computer screen, the photo of a feather with a golden tip appeared. Underneath, there was only one word: _Checkmate._

For a moment, everything was eerily silent. Then, Arthur cursed loudly.

"No! No, for fuck's sake! That little bastard. Okay, he wants war? He gets war. Gwaine, you go down to the control centre and bring every CCTV footage you can lay your hands on up here. I think I'll come with you. Leon, you get the forensics and take them to the strongroom. I want them to look out for everything, no matter how small. Take apart the whole storey if necessary.

"Lance, Percy, you two get everyone who might have seen something into the interrogation rooms and see what you can get. Take some other colleagues if you need them. Gwen, you will go to Morgana and tell her what happened. You might need some sedatives, though. Elyan, you survey this memory chip. Maybe you can find something that's giving us a hint about his methods. Alright? Then let's go!"

The group quickly dispersed to do the given tasks. Arthur shot one last (disgruntled) glance at the image of the feather before following Gwaine out of the office.

_"Just you wait, Merlin. I will get you, no matter what. This time, you went too far."_

* * *

6.5.2012, 7.14 pm

Back in his hideout, Merlin finally let himself feel some triumph. Everything had worked out almost disappointingly well. He went to the kitchen to make the ritualistic cup of tea he always drank after successfully finishing a theft.

The costume, along with the mask and everything else that could give away something was now safely disposed, shredded into tiny scraps and thrown into five different rubbish skips at the other end of the town. Merlin never took an unnecessary risk.

After lowering himself onto his office chair and sipping his tea, he eyed the briefcase that was lying on his desk. It looked exactly like the one he had transported to Arthur's police department, only that its content was far more valuable. Merlin couldn't decide whether to feel amused or disappointed about how easy it had been to switch the briefcases. The gentlemen of the Ministry of Defence really should improve their security measures.

Lost in thought, he ran his fingers over the smooth surface of the briefcase. He hadn't yet opened it, but he didn't need to. Not for what he intended to do with it. He twirled his chair a bit and thought of all the preparations he had to make, all the precautions he had to take, all the little details he had to factor in. Oh yes, the game had truly begun. And Merlin was raring to see who would come out of it victoriously.

* * *

**Congratulations to all of you who have guessed what's going on. Poor Arthur, his ego must hurt a lot now.  
The next chapter will give some insight in Merlin's little genius world. ;-)**


	7. Chapter Six

**OH. MY. GOD!  
TEN REVIEWS. For ONE chapter. I died and went to FanFiction Heaven.  
No seriously, thank you all sooo much!  
(Though Sam, I fear you will have to wait a bit longer for Merlin's past. Right now, he's busy with other stuff... *winks*)  
Have fun reading!**

* * *

7.5.2012, 10.29 am

"That can't be right! What _is _he doing!?" Elyan frowned, narrowed his eyes and leant forward to examine the scene he watched on the computer. Eyes never leaving the small figure on the screen, he blew the image up. After rewinding and rewatching the segment for the fifth time, he huffed and stood up.

_"But that doesn't make any sense at all! I have to show this to Arthur."_ He grabbed his phone and dialled. "Gwen? Get the team. Call Arthur first. There is something I have to show you."

About five minutes later, the whole TGF (or, according to Gwaine, the "Baddy-Busting Birdcatchers") was crowded around Elyan's computer. The computer specialist showed them his findings, excitedly jabbing the computer screen with his forefinger.

"Here, watch this, guys! It doesn't make any sense! See, there's Merlin, coming from the bathroom." He showed them the corresponding clip. Then, he switched to another footage and continued.

"And here he is standing in front of the safe. The fire alarm kicks off and he starts tampering with the door of the strongroom. And look at this, he cracks it in a matter of seconds! I can't decide whether to be impressed or depressed by that. But now, this is the interesting bit. Look at this clip."

He switched the footage and the inside of the strongroom appeared on the computer screen. "Watch it. There he is, standing in front of the briefcase. And now, he does… nothing! He just smiles, turns around and walks out again! What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Arthur watched speechlessly as Elyan repeated the scene. He was right. Merlin hadn't as much as touched the briefcase! But how was this possible? The memory chip was gone! Unless…

"Elyan, contact the MOD. I want to know if they have checked the content of the memory chip after this failed attempt of theft two days ago. And I want every CCTV footage they have of this theft. I also want to know how it was possible for Merlin to become the courier in the first place. Every little detail matters, so tell them I need _everything_, and pronto!"

Gwaine whistled impressed. "You think this theft was Merlin and he switched the memory chip before it came to us? Wow, that's pretty shrewd. This guy really is a sly dog, huh?"

"But how did he manage to make it look like he failed?" Lance cut in, frowning.

"That is what I want to find out," Arthur replied. He leant on the desk and studied the image on Elyan's computer. Merlin was smiling into the camera mischievously. It was a smug, challenging smile. He was daring Arthur to accept his challenge. And a challenge he would damn well get.

But before Arthur had the chance to think about how exactly he could thwart Merlin's plans, there was a wild knock on the door and half a second later, a whirlwind of blonde hair, an ill-fitting uniform, and babbled apologies burst into the room.

Elena made it precisely four steps into the room before she tripped and nearly fell flat on her face. Fortunately, everyone in the building already knew of her legendary clumsiness by now and Gwaine managed to catch her before she could hit the floor face first. Elena blushed furiously and tried – rather fruitlessly – to straighten her rumpled clothes.

"Elena," Gwaine greeted her cheerfully, "What do we owe the great pleasure of your visit?"

Arthur rolled his eyes. Leave it to Gwaine to flirt with every female human being in the whole police department. Elena's blush deepened and she gestured to the door. Only then the others noticed the young man standing awkwardly in the doorframe.

"This," Elena said with a beaming smile, "is Gilli Brown. He's a witness." At this, every person in the room sat up with interest. "He saw a policeman walk away from the department. It could be Merlin."

Arthur eyed the man sceptically. He seemed to be very young, twenty at most, with dark brown hair and blue eyes. He wore shabby looking clothes, probably second hand. And he seemed to practically burst with excitement. Arthur sighed. Probably just one of those over-enthusiastic busybodies who only wanted to get attention, wasting time with their behaviour.

"Alright," he said after a second of consideration, "I will talk with him. Elyan, call the guys from the ministry. I want facts, and I want them as fast as possible. The rest of you, go back to investigating the evidence. Maybe we missed something. Get to work."

Elyan nodded and reached for the phone. The others dispersed and Elena smiled encouraging at the witness before stumbling out of the office. (Bumping against the doorframe and nearly knocking a passing officer over in the process.)

"Okay, shall we go to my office? It's more comfortable than the interrogation room," Arthur asked, feeling a bit uncomfortable. He wasn't really good in dealing with witnesses but he wanted to get over with it as soon as possible. There was always a chance that this Mr. Brown had indeed some useful information…

He was jolted out of his thoughts by said witness, who practically _squealed_, "Oh WOW, I've never seen a real police office before! Can you show me the cells after we're finished? Oh my god, this is soooo exciting!"

Arthur rolled his eyes whilst heading for his office. To assume that Gilli Brown would be of any kind of assistance was nothing but wishful thinking. He would most likely be a waste of time. Arthur had always been good at reading people. And he was fairly sure that this guy knew nothing of Merlin.

* * *

7.6.2012, 5.54 pm

Merlin sat down on the white, cosy chair in the café where he had arranged the meeting with Aredian and his lap dog Cenred. A quick glance at his watch told him that he was five minutes and forty-eight seconds early.

Perfect. Enough time to order a cup of tea and relax a little while after a busy day. He waved for a waitress, ordered a cup of Earl Grey and then leant back to watch the passing crowd. It was a nice day in spring and even now, in the early evening, the street was buzzing with life.

Merlin sometimes wondered what it would be like to be normal, to be like anyone else. What would it be like to be able to interact with other human beings without always examining, assessing and analysing them? What would it be like to have a normal job and maybe even a family?  
But most importantly, what would it feel like to have actual emotions? It wasn't like he couldn't feel anything. He knew what it felt like to be angry, annoyed or nervous.  
But there were these other things. Merlin didn't know for certain, but he was relatively sure that he had never been that kind of happy or sad that other people were talking about, this kind of joy countless celebrities sang about. He had never felt depressed once in his life, he had never cried and he had never loved someone.

Since he was an orphan child he didn't know if he would have loved his parents, but he doubted it. Even when his best friend and soul mate Will had died, he had felt nothing but emptiness. No love, no sorrow. Just emptiness and the oppressive awareness of loss.

Merlin knew that this probably was the price for his uniquely sharp intellect, photographic memory, and very fast cognitive abilities. He had read books about savants and highly intelligent but otherwise disabled people. But he wasn't autistic. He was just… not normal.

He might be a tad sociopathic and he couldn't deny his haphephobia, but he was able to live with that, wasn't he? He could pretend to be normal and get away with it. He could pretend to be any person he wanted to be. He could be empathetic and helpful. He could make other people laugh and he really, really liked to make people happy. Even though (or maybe because?) he wasn't able to be.

Plus, it was surprisingly easy to live in the modern world without touching fellow citizens. So it wasn't a problem to be different, was it?

The chairs opposite of him were pushed back as Aredian and Cenred sat down, startling Merlin out of his thoughts. He opened his eyes without haste. (And when had he closed them anyway? He should stop thinking so much about his life, it was making him incautious.)

"Ah, Aredian. Right on time," he said with a small, faked smile and cast a stealthy glance at his watch. _"Almost seven minutes late. You probably wanted to make me uncomfortable, didn't you? No such luck, sorry."  
_  
Aredian shot him an angry glare. Cenred looked as devoted and leering as always. The perfect bootlicker indeed.

"So," Aredian sneered, "do you have this chip you promised to deliver as a compensation?"

Merlin reminded himself to keep the stiff smile plastered on his face. "Of course. Right now, it is safely stored in a place only known to me. After you have delivered the second half of my fee, I will hand it over to you. That was the deal.

"We meet in four days in a place I will inform you ofvia telephone. There, you will give me the money. If I deem everything satisfying, you will get the memory chip the following day in the place I will tell you after the payment.

"Afterwards, we will never see each other again. You can do whatever it is that you want to do with the memory chip and I can enjoy my free time while I wait for the whole affair to settle down a bit."

Aredian nodded and Cenred smirked in a rather disturbing manner. It made him look even more insane than usual. After a moment of tense silence, Aredian nodded once more and stood up, indicating Cenred to do the same.

His smile was as false and deceitful as his eyes were. He reached out his hand for Merlin to shake. The latter chose to ignore the hand, nodded briefly and left the café without another word. He felt Aredian's gaze following him.

As soon as he was sure to be out of Aredian's sight, Merlin dropped the smile and wandered off, his thoughts on his forebodings.

_"He won't stick to the bargain. He will try to kill me, I just know it. He wants to dispose of me and take his money back. That could prove to be inconvenient. But that's what I have my arrangements for, after all. My dear client is in for a great surprise, that is for certain."_

* * *

8.5.2012, 7.42 am

Arthur had arranged a meeting in his office to exchange the results of the previous day. He greeted his team with a broad and somewhat satisfied grin on his face. Leon, who had already drunk four cups of coffee during the morning and was now refused to have more by Gwen, ceased to scowl at his glass of water and raised a quizzical eyebrow at his colleague and friend instead.

"Why the happy face, Arthur? I take it the questioning with Mr. Brown was fruitful then?"

Arthur nodded contently, "It was indeed. At first, I thought he was just some busybody who wanted attention, that he just wanted to have an excuse to visit a police department. Honestly, he was so giddy with excitement I thought he was going to hug me or something.

"He practically _begged_ me for driving him home in my police car and once he sat inside it, he poked his nose in literally _everything_. Plus he wouldn't stop whining until I showed him the whole police department. And when I say the whole department, I mean _the whole bloody police department_.

"Anyway, I heard him out and it seems we hit the jackpot with him! Despite his insufferable prattle. I have to admit though, it was more luck than judgement.

"Well, at first his testimony didn't seem to be much help. Mr. Brown told me that he saw a policeman leaving the department right after the fire. He thought it to be suspicious since all the other policemen went to the gathering place in the park across the street, but this one left in the opposite direction.

"The description fits Merlin's disguise. Mr. Brown looked after him and saw him climbing into a car, a dark BMW. And now, the really interesting bit: Mr. Brown remembered parts of the number plate. Not everything, but it was enough. I called the DVLA and scored a hit!

"The car Merlin left the crime scene with belongs to a certain Aredian Hunt. And guess what? We know him. He was suspected of dealing in stolen goods a few times, but we never had him up due to insufficient evidence. I think that Merlin stole the memory chip at the behest of Aredian Hunt." Arthur leant back in his chair and smiled smugly at his speechless colleagues.

Gwaine whistled impressed. "Well done, big boy! Seems like our dear Merlin is getting sloppy. We'll get this guy, I tell you." He grinned gleefully.  
Elyan huffed good-naturedly, "I know I can pack up and go home after what Arthur found out, but maybe you want to hear about how Merlin managed to _get_ the memory chip in the first place nonetheless?"

The rest of the team snickered at this, but Arthur ignored them and gave Elyan an encouraging nod. "As I said, it was more luck than anything else. And with Merlin, we will need all the information we can get. So just ignore these tossers and tell us about your findings."  
Elyan grinned whilst Gwaine tried (very unsuccessfully) to look offended.

"Well, it's nowhere as impressive as Arthur's findings but unfortunately very irritating. It would seem that our dear friends from the MOD – excuse my French here – really fucked it up, big time. Not only did Merlin manage to crack their high-security safe, but he also knocked out the alarm and hacked into their CCTV.

"He switched the cameras into endless loops and deactivated the security measures of the safe. After that, he could have just walked in, changed the briefcases and walked out again. He probably did, nobody would have noticed. It's pathetic, really."

Elyan looked like he wanted to weep over the scabbiness of the ministry's security. But then, he shook his head and continued, "Well, that is that. After getting the people responsible to admit this disgrace, it was very easy to make out how Merlin became the courier.

"The real courier, Jason Stuart, who was supposed to deliver the briefcase, had to cancel after he had a water-pipe burst in his apartment the very morning the delivery took place. What an amazing coincidence, right? I assume Merlin caused this mishap and took Stuart's place. Underhanded, but effective."

Arthur nodded approvingly. "Alright. Thank you, Elyan, well done. I think it's best if we observe this Aredian Hunt and see what he is up to. Elyan, Gwaine, you will find out everything you can about Aredian Hunt. Leon, Percy and Lance, you will help me to find some voluntary patrol cops. Together, we will observe Hunt and all the people he currently has contact with in shifts.

Gwen, you organise the observation. And tell Morgana about the process we made. She will have my guts if we leave her in the dark."  
The whole table snorted with laugher at this. They all vividly recalled the last time Arthur had forgotten to keep Morgana up to date. It hadn't been pretty.

"Off we go! I want Merlin's head on my desk before the month is out!"


	8. Chapter Seven

**Before I start, I need to make an important announcement:  
My beta 'Vernacular Jargon' will be away for some time in summer. Other betas I have contacted haven't replied so far. So if anyone is interested in helping me out whilst my beta is away, please write me! I hate reading stories that are rife with mistakes and therefore refuse to publish anything uncorrected myself. **

**But now: on with the chapter!**

* * *

10.5.2012, 7.47 pm

"This," Leon said irritated, "is even duller than watching paint dry." He and Percy were sitting in an unmarked police vehicle, staring at the restaurant on the other side of the street. It was the second day of Aredian Hunt's observation and the team already was unnerved.

They were working in shifts, but Aredian hadn't as much as parked illegally, let alone met with the wanted master thief. Right now, he was enjoying a meal at _Avalon's_, and that since six o'clock. And the most exciting thing about the evening had been a heated phone call that had only lasted about two minutes. It almost was as if he was taunting them, daring them to catch him red-handed.

Percy sighed long-suffering and glanced at his watch. "I think this is pointless. We should call it a day and go home." Leon, too, checked the time. And promptly sat up straight.

"Oh shit!" he groaned, "I promised Mithian to be at home at half past seven! Oh god, she will be furious." He buried his head in his hands. Percy, who couldn't suppress a grin, patted him on the back.

"Off you go then. We wouldn't want Mithian to castrate you for letting the dinner grow cold. I'll stay here for another five minutes." Leon gave him a grateful nod. Percy chuckled. Mithian was a very confident, strong-willed woman. She and Leon had been married for almost four years now and the beautiful, dark-haired woman was very popular in their circle of friends.

After Leon had hastily said goodbye and sprinted towards his own car, Percy continued to stare at the restaurant. But after some more minutes which were as uneventful as the rest of the shift, he shrugged and started the engine of the car. Surely nothing remarkable would happen.

* * *

10.5.2012, 8.06 pm

All in all, Merlin was content. The day had been long and busy, but so very fruitful. He had done the shopping for the next few days, cleaned his apartment, done his tax filing (and yes, even he paid his taxes just like any other citizen), and searched, found, and rented the perfect place for the money transfer with Aredian.

_"The perfect place indeed,"_ Merlin thought as he sat in his chair with a book in his lap, _"And if something shouldn't go according to plan, there is still time to change tactics. But this woman seemed decent enough."  
_  
He glanced at the lease agreement, even though he knew the name of the woman, as well as everything else he had been able to find out about her. Which, admittedly, hadn't been much. Mithian Nemeth, aged thirty-two, married, residing in London, estate agent since 2006. Very confident, organised and seemingly very loyal if needed. A very efficient person. Well, she certainly knew how to advertise her apartments efficiently. The thief was convinced that he didn't need to worry about her.

Aredian, though, was another matter entirely. The phone call he had made earlier that evening hadn't been pleasant at all. Aredian was growing impatient. Merlin wouldn't survive another failure, Aredian would make sure of that. Not that he was going to fail again. But still, an irritated Aredian was even more despiteful than a normal Aredian, and that was saying something.

A smile appeared on Merlin's lips as he thought of his further plans. If everything went right, Aredian would never bother him again.

After taking one deep breath, the thief put the book aside, stood up, and went over to his desk. He still had to make some preparations for the meeting in two days. He had to prepare the needed costume, make sure all of his technological equipment worked flawlessly, and he had to hire this delivery boy he would need soon.

_"Ah, the delivery boy. That's my favorite part of the coup. Speaking of which, I need to try out if the alarm clock fits into the package along with the rest of the… _delivery_."_ He smiled to himself. Oh yes, he was content indeed.

* * *

11.5.2012, 8.11 am

Arthur stood in front of the whiteboard and stared at the pictures, arrows and short statements on it. By now, they knew a whole lot about Aredian Hunt and his assistant Cenred King. But nothing they had found out about them had helped in any way to get a bit closer to Merlin.

There was literally _nothing_. This man was very good at what he did, that much was certain.

Arthur sighed and sipped his tea. How was he supposed to find a man who never made any mistakes? _"Maybe,"_ he thought bitterly, _"Merlin really is out of my league. It's been five days and I still haven't got the slightest clue where he could be. Or what exactly he is planning to do."  
_  
"You're doing it again, aren't you? For heaven's sake, Arthur, could you be any more insufferable?" And of course, Morgana chose to ruin the moment with her big mouth.

Arthur heard Gwen snicker behind him and rolled his eyes before slowly turning around to face his half-sister.

"And what exactly do you thing I am doing, _Morgy_?" he asked sweetly. Elyan, who was leaning against the conference table, was turning an alarming shade of red in his attempt not to laugh aloud at the nickname. Morgana glared daggers at him before turning to Arthur with a dangerous glint in her eyes.

"Firstly: I think you have an overly melodramatic monologue inside your head over whether or not you will be able to catch Merlin, which is equally ridiculous and pathetic. Secondly: Call me that name again and I will take a pair of rusty pincers and tear your fingernails out one by one. This applies to the whole lot of you, by the way. And thirdly: Has anyone seen Leon? He hasn't shown up for work yet."

At this, Percy grinned and answered: "Oh, he stood Mithian up yesterday evening. She probably gave him hell quite a lot. I wouldn't be surprised if he slipped in with his tail between his legs today. He'll show up as soon as his manly pride is somewhat restored." Although he really didn't look it, Percy could be very gloating if he wanted to. Right now, he was grinning rather devilish.

Gwen, who was good friends with Mithan and knew her hot-headedness well, just chuckled quietly. Arthur shook his head good-naturedly.

"Okay then, we won't wait for him to show up. So let's collect the information of yesterday's work. Please tell me that you have at least _one_ little indication of Merlin's plans or at least that he really has a deal with Aredian Hunt."

Gwaine spoke up first. "I double- and triple-checked Hunt's past. He is well known amongst the customs officials, but they never managed to catch him red-handed. Apparently, he really is a thorn in their side, but the one time they nearly got him, he showed up with the best lawyers of the whole bloody UK and threatened them with a lawsuit for calumny, so they had to let him go. He's a sly bastard, but unfortunately, he's got the money to do whatever he wants.

"Then there is his little helper, Cenred King. His police file is rather impressive. Accused of fraud, manslaughter, blackmail, and – several times – sexual harassment but he's only been in jail for the fraud, because in every other case, the witnesses suddenly withdrew their testimonies or the plaintiffs abandoned their lawsuits. Elyan agrees with me that Hunt must have hassled them.

"But other than this, there's nothing interesting. He hasn't had any problems with the law for more than sixteen months now and no judge in his right mind would give us a search warrant for his or Hunt's house."

Arthur sighed. This wasn't what he had hoped for. He saw Morgana frown into her coffee and the faces of his colleagues were equally disappointed. After Gwaine had shrugged apologetic and sat down, Percy stood up. But judging by his sagged shoulder, he didn't have anything new either.

"Well, there's really not much to say. We observed Hunt, but up to now, with no avail. I think he knows that we're observing him. Maybe-"

Whatever suggestion Percy had been about to make was interrupted by Leon, who came bursting through the door in a manner that could put Elena's everlasting over-excitement to shame. His head was as red as a tomato with sunburn, his hair and clothes rumpled and he panted like he had been running the whole way to the police station. Which, judging by the sweat on his forehead, he probably had.

Before anyone had the chance to say something, he burst out: "I'm on to something! I've. Got. A lead! And now I really need a glass of water."  
He collapsed into his chair and with a grateful nod snatched the water bottle from Gwen's offering hand. After gulping down more than half of it, he finally managed to regain control of his breathing.

"Well, spit it out already, Leon. We're all bursting with anticipation!" Gwaine exclaimed. Leon looked up from his bottle to see all eyes in the room on him. He grinned broadly, not caring that he probably (most definitely) looked like a maniac.

"Guys, you won't believe this! I'm sure Percy already told you that I was running late for dinner with Mithian. Well, let's just say she wasn't thrilled. But after she chided me for what felt like hours and we finally got to eat something, she told me of this customer she had that afternoon.

"She said he was a real creeper. All slimy and unpleasant. But great estate agent that she is, she still managed to make him rent the apartment he was inspecting. And now guess what this man's name was?"

After looking around in the agog faces of his friends, Leon announced, "His name is Cenred Wright. That made me suspicious. I asked her to tell me what he looked like and lo and behold, he looks exactly like Cenred King, Aredian Hunt's little helper. I couldn't believe his man could be that stupid."

Leon revelled in his colleagues' flabbergasted faces – and what was that? Both Pendragon siblings were speechless! – and added, "I know it's no watertight proof, but I would bet my right hand that this apartment isn't supposed to serve as a dwelling for King and Hunt. What if they want to use it for their meetings with Merlin?"

Arthur, who had finally broken out of his stupor, jumped to his feet and beamed at his bearded friend. "Leon, this is great! I don't want to get my hopes up too soon, but at least we have a clue now. Please remember me to buy Mithian a big bouquet of flowers.

"Alright everyone, we have work to do. I want this apartment to be bugged, wired and observed 24/7 by this evening. It seems there's a busy day ahead of us!"

* * *

**Thanks a quadrillion for all the reviews, follows and favourites! And YAY, the story is now part of a Community, so thanks to whoever made that happen!  
Sam: please get yourself a FanFiction-account so I can crush you to death with virtual hugs. (Don't take me seriously, that's my way of showing appreciation.)**


	9. Chapter Eight

**I found a surrogate beta! Yay! *does the happy dance*  
And the feedback I get is amazing! Thank you all so much! **

* * *

11.5.2012, 11.07 am

Merlin observed the crowds bustling outside the café. Choosing the airport for the money transfer had been a good idea insofar as no one would suspect two businessmen exchanging briefcases. And the café he was currently sitting in wasn't too busy for him not to recognise unwanted observers.

Merlin carefully ran his fingers through his perfectly fitting wig and then briefly touched his beard and moustache. His hair, along with his wide leather jacket and cowboy hat probably made him look like a bad imitation of Johnny Depp, but he didn't care. This was the appearance he had described to Aredian along with the place and time. (And why on earth was his client late, _again_? Didn't he own a functioning watch?)

After two more minutes, Aredian Hunt and his accomplice finally arrived. Merlin tried not to look too annoyed.

Aredian was holding a plain, flat briefcase that looked so utterly normal it was almost funny, considering its content, which was no less than £100.000 in cash. It was a nice fee, and it was just the second half. What was left of the first hundred grand was safely deposited in his bank account in Switzerland.

Not bothering to greet, Aredian Hunt sat down at the table and eyed the thief warily. Cenred slumped down on his chair and promptly began casting the waitress lewd glances. Both Merlin and Aredian chose to ignore him.

Aredian laid the briefcase onto the table and rested his elbows on it as he leant forward.

"So, Mr. _Merlin_, this is the second half of your fee. £100.000 in cash. But before you get the money I'd like to know what the further plans are."

"Of course. Well, I've found the perfect place for our next meeting. It's a small flat in one of the outer districts of the city. I took the liberty to rent it for a month, as some sort of 'free trial'. Of course I won't rent it permanently, but it's rather remote and the other tenants surely won't be a problem. I wrote the address and the time on this card."

Merlin pulled a business card out of his pocket and handed it over to Aredian. It was completely empty save for a few lines of handwritten words and numbers. After giving it a brief glance, Aredian put into the pocket of his suit.

"In this apartment, I will give you the memory chip. I reckon you will want to know if it is the real chip, therefore I suggest you bring a laptop or something similar with you. Are you somewhat familiar with this kind of encrypted data and advanced technology the memory chip contains?"

Aredian gave a short shake of the head. Cenred looked as if he didn't even know what the word 'encrypted' meant. Merlin just nodded once. Of course he knew that his client wasn't able to handle such information, but confirmation can't hurt, can it?

"Very well. I'm not an expert myself," – he was, but Aredian didn't need to know that – "But I can explain the most basic things you have to keep in mind concerning this chip. I think it's best if we do that tomorrow in the privacy of the flat, though. Now, if you don't mind, I would like to get my fee."

Aredian leant back and made a gesture for Merlin to take the briefcase. Before the thief had a chance to take it, however, Aredian grabbed his wrist. Merlin tried to pull away, alarmed, but the grip was too strong.

"Listen, Merlin. If you think you can take the money and just skive off without giving me this memory chip, I will _hunt _you_ down_ and torture you until you beg me to kill you. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal clear. Now would you be so kind to let go of my hand? This is rather uncomfortable," Merlin said, trying very hard not to lose control of the situation. He felt himself breaking out in a cold sweat and his heart began to beat faster. Once again, he felt unbidden memories rising to the surface of his consciousness.

_"Contain yourself, Merlin. You can't have an anxiety attack in the middle of an airport. Or in front of a client who wants to kill you. Just breathe, smile, and get rid of him."_

He unwaveringly returned Aredian's scrutinising look and forcibly wrenched his hand from the other man's death grip without showing any sign of his inner turmoil.

"If that is all, I have important business to attend. Goodbye, Mr. Hunt, Mr. King."

Merlin stood up, snatched the briefcase, and left the café without looking back. On his way to the exit, he sighed. _"Damned haphephobia. I need to do something about this. It's getting worse."_

* * *

11.5.2012, 3.20 pm

Jethro was having a very bad day.

In the morning, his alarm had refused to wake him. Therefore, he had missed his bus and had to run the entire way to work, which hadn't done him any good since he had still been almost fifteen minutes late. That again resulted in him being shouted at by his cranky boss for about another quarter hour.

And did he mention that this was his very first day at work?

After finally beginning to work, it took him only a few minutes to mess things up again. At first, he didn't find the right stamps and his customer called him a brainless idiot. Then, he dropped his cup of coffee on a package that was _"worth more than you earn in a month, you imbecile!"_ (Quote from the scary man whom the package belonged to.)

And because his day wasn't shitty enough already, he now had bumped into an elderly man who had just been about to enter the post office, causing him to drop the heavy looking package on which stood 'Fragile, handle with care!' in big, red letters.

"Oh my god, I'm sorry," Jethro stammered whilst hastily bending down and picking the package up, "Please don't tell my boss, he already hates me. God, I'm so sorry!"

But instead of shouting at him, the old man just chuckled. "No worries, lad. Having a bad day, I suppose?"

Jethro nodded, grateful that he wouldn't have to endure another lecture.

"Just you see, lad, tomorrow everything will look brighter. And now I'd like you to help me. I need this package delivered, but it must be delivered on a certain time. You see, it's supposed to be a surprise gift for a friend, but the time has to be perfect. Do you know if that would be possible?"

Jethro thought about his insufferable boss and his threat to fire him on his first day if he didn't move heaven and earth to please the customers. Making a decision at short notice, he said: "If you want, I could deliver it personally. Just tell me where and when you want it delivered and I'll see to it."

The old man smiled broadly. "Perfect. I'll write everything down for you. What's your name, lad?"

"Jethro, Sir. Jethro Cane."

"Okay. Jethro, if you manage to make this delivery flawlessly, I'll see to it that you get a nice tip, alright?" The old man smiled broadly and Jethro couldn't help but join in.

Maybe his day wasn't that that bad after all.

* * *

11.5.2012, 5.48 pm

Elyan examined the last of his four monitors before leaning back in his chair and grinning contently. It had indeed been very demanding work to… prepare the apartment, but now that everything was put in place, the result was rather impressive.

At least one camera in each room, so many wiretaps that the sound quality rivalled any recording studio, a thermographic camera in the opposite building and three apartment owners who had agreed to clear their homes for the special forces.

Once he was inside, there was no way in hell for Merlin to get out of this apartment.

Except, of course, in handcuffs.

After staring at the monitors for another few minutes, Elyan decided to join the rest of the team. After hearing of the miraculous findings, Morgana had decided that it was time for a bit of celebration, so they would all go out to the pub tonight.

Gwaine intended to get incredibly drunk, Gwen and Lance would probably spend the whole evening making goo-goo eyes at each other and Arthur and Morgana would most likely snap at each other until they got sullen looks from the staff. (Everyone knew by now that these arguments were about serious as Monty Python films, but nobody had the heart to tell them.)

So basically, it would be just like any other night out they had.

* * *

12.5.2012, 7.04 am

Merlin stared at his reflection. Should he really go to the meeting like this? He had never once met a client without wearing a mask. Seeing himself, his _real_ self in the mirror (albeit with hairs that were a bit too ruffled and clothes that didn't quite fit him) was… unsettling.

His costumes had always managed to give him comfort. Nobody would recognise him in one of his many characters and if nobody knew him, they couldn't hurt him. In his disguises, he always felt some kind of invincibility, aloofness. He could only be free if he wasn't himself.

What was wrong with him today anyway? He had slept rather fitfully and woke up long before his alarm went off. And since he had stood up, he didn't seem to be able to sit still for more than a few minutes. What was the meaning of this?

It almost was as if he was… excited.

But he never got excited over meetings and Aredian surely wasn't the reason of his sudden restlessness. This man was dangerous, but Merlin was far more intelligent and already had taken all the precautions he needed for his bothersome client.

No, Aredian wasn't the problem. Arthur Pendragon was.

Merlin normally wasn't one to lie to himself. (Except for his past. Never think about the past.) He knew why he was so restless. It was his opponent, the only policeman he had ever enjoyed challenging.

Arthur was different. He was young, he was clever and he certainly knew how to make the thief's life interesting. He was the first one to thwart one of his plans and the first one whom Merlin regarded to be (almost) evenly matched.

Merlin knew that it was now or never, that if he didn't work up the courage to face him today he would never manage it, but he found himself in a predicament.

On the one hand, he had wanted to actually meet and talk to Arthur face to face since that fateful night of his failed theft, but on the other hand, he was afraid that his great antagonist would turn out to be a disappointment.

Merlin sighed and stared into the mirror. His reflection stared back. Should he dare to do it? There was still time to change his plans. He could still back-pedal. He could still meet with Aredian, get his money and then disappear, never to be seen again in London.

After checking his watch, the thief stood up and began to get ready. Casting one last glance at his reflection, Merlin closed the door and went downstairs to walk to the meeting point with Aredian.

_"Now or never, Merlin. I just hope I made the right decision."_

* * *

12.5.2012, 7.56 am

"I will _never ever under any circumstances_ go out drinking with you! Never!" Lance groaned, rubbing his temple with one hand and clutching his cup of coffee like a lifeline with the other.

Gwaine just laughed and leant back in his chair. "It's not my fault that you're such a lightweight."

Lance tried his best to glare hard at his friend, but it kind of failed because he had to stifle a yawn. Percy, who felt a lot more hungover than he wanted to admit, just snorted and nursed his glass of water (which didn't contain any aspirin at all, thank you very much).

"You two just are total bores. Plus, I didn't hear you complain last night," Gwaine smirked.

"Well yes, that's because you were far to pissed to understand anything we said. You would have probably tried to seduce a bar stool if we hadn't dragged your sorry arse out of that pub," Arthur, who had just entered the room, replied. He too held a cup in his hands, but his was filled with strong tea. (He didn't care that his tea-drinking habits were the epitome of British, he despised coffee and no hangover would change that.)

"Oi, now you've hurt my feelings. This bar stool was highly attractive, I tell you. You're no fun, seriously."

"Gwaine, nearly starting a brawl and misusing the bar for a table dance is not funny," Lance interjected.

"That's what _you_ say, Lancy. I, on the other hand, think that my dancing skills are very –"

But whatever Gwaine had been about to say was cut off by Elyan, who came barging into the room.

"Elyan, what –"

"MERLIN IS ABOUT TO ENTER THE APARTMENT! Come on, guys, hurry up, we have to go!"

It took the others about two milliseconds to comprehend what Elyan had been shouting in their faces. And about another five to jump up like scalded cats.

Arthur automatically switched into his commanding mode: "Elyan, back to the supervisory control room. We stay in contact via police radio. Lance, Percy, get down to the cars and to the apartment as fast as possible. Where's Leon?"

"Already on his way, he was with me when I saw Merlin approaching," Elyan replied.

"Right. Gwaine, I want you to find Gwen and Morgana and tell them that the operation has started and then follow the others. Elyan, I want the SCO19 there this instant, all of them who are available. We cannot allow ourselves to make any mistakes. All clear? Then let's go!"

Running down the stairs, taking three steps at once, Arthur felt a rush of adrenaline go through his body. _"Finally! Before the day is out I will have caught you, Merlin. And I will enjoy putting you in irons myself."_


	10. Chapter Nine

**Thanks for all the reviews. I personally love cliffhangers, so be prepared that it won't be the last time you get one. :)**

* * *

12.5.2012, 8.00 am

After taking a very deep breath, Merlin slid the key into the lock and opened the door. It was empty, of course, but he still felt a thrill of excitement.

After glancing around briefly to make certain that everything was in place, he went to the window and put the plain black briefcase down beside him. Aredian would undoubtedly be late,_ again_, so he decided to pass his time watching the passers-by down on the street.

Merlin loved to observe other people. He watched with interest as a couple strolled down the street, holding hands and ogling each other. He saw a little boy crying over the ice cream he had dropped and noticed the car that sped around the corner was speeding about 45 mph.

_"Someone's in a hurry, it seems. I wish my client would bother to hurry up for a change. Is it too much to ask from him to actually come on time just once?"_ Merlin thought. He watched as the car came to a halt at the end of the road with squealing tyres and a man with shaggy dark brown hair and a beard jumped out of it. The man hastily locked his vehicle and then sprinted towards a house across the street.

The shrill ringing of the doorbell startled Merlin out of his observations.

"Finally," the master thief muttered as he made his way towards to door to let his client in, "And only three minutes late. Must be a new record for him."

* * *

12.5.2012, 8.03 am

_"Good morning, Mr. Hunt, Mr. King. I suggest we get over and done with this as fast as possible, if you don't mind. I've got a tight schedule."_

Arthur inwardly cheered. Aredian Hunt and his little helper had rang the doorbell mere seconds after Arthur – who had arrived at the house in record time and met with his colleagues who had set up the monitoring equipment in one of the neighbouring flats – had put on the earphones that were connected to the wiretaps in Merlin's apartment.

He stared at the small display that showed the proceedings in the other flat. He still couldn't quite believe that the most infamous thief in all of Britain was only a few feet away.

_"That's just fine by me. I've brought a laptop. Now, give me the memory chip."_

Arthur shared a short, triumphant glance with Leon who sat beside him and had his earphones on, too.

_"Of course. But first, you should know how to handle the chip. It contains very important, very dangerous information and there are some rather nasty security measures which, if not taken into consideration, can get you into very serious trouble. First, you have to keep in mind that this memory chip possesses an elaborate tracking sys–"_

Arthur yanked the earphones off. He had heard enough. Giving Leon and the officer in charge of the SCO19, Lieutenant Alvarr Turpin, a small nod, he grabbed his walkie-talkie.

"Go!"

* * *

12.5.2012, 8.07 am

Just as Merlin was about to launch into a nice long rant about tracking systems in memory chips, the door burst open and the room erupted in chaos, havoc and shouting.

Everything seemed to happen at once.

A couple of heavily armed policemen burst into the room along with Arthur and Leon, all of them with their weapons locked and loaded.

Aredian and Cenred, who had been standing with their backs to the door, spun around and whipped out their guns.

Merlin just stood there and viewed the spectacle.

Cenred, who lost his last nerve in the shouting match that had unfolded between Aredian and the operation team, accidentally pulled the trigger, but because of his shaking hands (or his horrendous aim) he missed the officers by several feet.

The SCO19 in turn used that as an opportunity to lunge at their targets without further ado but with a lot of yelling across each other.

Nobody noticed that Merlin gave the briefcase – that still sat by his feet – a kick to make it slide across the room and out of anyone's reach.

Arthur did notice, however, that just as Aredian was about to get a steady hold of his gun and shoot one of the officers he was fighting with, Merlin tripped him up with an incredibly fast and precise kick in the shin.

This resulted in Aredian falling flat on his face, knocking Cenred, Leon and another policeman over in the process.

Lieutenant Alvarr Turpin couldn't remember the last time an operation had resulted in that much chaos and was accordingly disgruntled.

But the fight, as loud and chaotic as it may have been, was over in less than two minutes.

Merlin, who had somehow managed to steal himself away from the fight after tripping Aredian up to observe the scene from the other side of the room in about five seconds without being noticed, made no attempt to escape as Arthur advanced on him.

Instead, he merely smiled knowingly and let his hands hang loose by his sides.

"Arthur Pendragon, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Arthur normally was a very good judge of character, but now he couldn't for the life of him figure out if the thief was mocking him or if he was sincere. It unnerved him. There was something about this man; the way he looked, as if he knew something vitally important that Arthur didn't, made Arthur wonder.

_"Keep calm, Arthur. You won, so get the fuck over there and arrest him!"_

Before he had the chance to do exactly that, though, Merlin took one step backwards and raised his hands in a defensive manner.

"Before you march me off, I'd like you to know that I'm haphephobic, so if you could refrain from touching me more than absolutely necessary, I would be grateful."

Leon let out a unbelieving laugh and Turpin (who was still miffed about the rather suboptimal arrest) glared daggers at the thief.

But still, after eying Merlin suspiciously, Arthur nodded briefly and made sure not to touch him directly whilst handcuffing the man he had spent weeks chasing.

As he left the apartment with Merlin in tow, Arthur could hear Alvarr Turpin sneer: "Seems like the _great master thief_ Merlin isn't that great after all."

Unfortunately, he missed Merlin's sly smile and the cunning spark in his eyes. Neither did he hear his low murmur.

"That we shall see, Lieutenant. That we shall see."

* * *

12.5.2012, 9.16 am

The interrogation room looked exactly as one would imagine it. Plain, white and sparsely furnished**. **Boring.

Merlin could feel the stares from behind the mirrored window.

But he didn't mind. He was a very patient man and due to Aredian's permanent tardiness, he was used to waiting. Nevertheless, he took a brief glance at his watch.

_"Hm, they have kept me waiting for more than twenty minutes already. It won't be long now."_

All the nervousness and restlessness from the morning was gone – replaced with a strange kind of calm anticipation the moment Arthur Pendragon had burst into his apartment. Whatever was to happen now, Merlin was ready.

Right on cue, the door opened and the very man Merlin had been thinking of came in, followed by another man with dark skin and a beautiful woman with long, black hair.

"_Elyan Smith and Morgana Pendragon,"_ the thief mused. _"Pity, I really hoped the whole team would be present."_

He patiently and attentively watched as Elyan set up the tape recorder and the three of them sat down opposite of him.

A couple of seconds passed in tense silence.

Then, Arthur began to speak: "So, _Mer_lin, are you ready for this interrogation?"

"I assume it wouldn't make that much of a difference if I wasn't, would it? But don't hold back, ask away. I'm sure we are all in for a very interesting conversation.

"One thing, though. As much as I don't mind being stared at through a window, it would certainly be nicer for all of us if the rest of your team would just come in and join us personally."

The three friends exchanged glances. Eventually, Arthur turned around and nodded towards the mirrored window. Only a few seconds later the door opened and the rest of the team came walking in, everyone holding an extra chair.

After everyone was seated, Merlin sat up straight and gave a small smile.

_"A great team they make. I think they deserve the truth. Well, most of it at least," _he thought. Out loud, he said: "Alright, what do you want to know?"

* * *

12.5.2012, 9.22 am

Arthur was fascinated with the riddle of a man that sat before him. Merlin couldn't be older than thirty – in fact, he looked younger than Arthur himself. And yet, he was one of the world's best thieves, if not the single best one.

This man undoubtedly was a genius, but he seemed so… normal. He was neither overbearing, nor condescending like most of the other professional criminals Arthur had met so far. But what was he, exactly?

Arthur normally could read people like an open book. Merlin, however, was a mystery to him. He seemed polite and also aloof, but in an almost playful way. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking; he gave nothing away.

"Alright, what do you want to know?"

Arthur mentally shook his head at himself. Daydreaming during an interrogation was not professional.

"Why don't you start with your particulars. We can't very well put you on trial as _'Merlin'_, can we?"

For some reason, the thief found this very amusing – he chuckled.

"Well, as a matter of fact, you can. Believe it or not, my name happens to be Merlin. Merlin Emrys, to be exact. That's quite ironical, isn't it?"

Eight pairs of eyes stared at him incredulously. Morgana was the first to regain her voice: "You're kidding, right? There's no way in hell that your real name is _actually_ Merlin!"

Merlin's smile just grew bigger. "I don't carry my Identity Card with me, of course, but feel free to screen my particulars.

"The name is Merlin Emrys, born on the twenty-eighth of October 1985 in Coagh, Northern Ireland. Right now, I'm living here in London, 371 Greenford Avenue."

Arthur couldn't stop staring at Merlin like an idiot, but he couldn't for the life of him figure out if he was serious or not.

"Do you want my telephone number and email address as well? Or my shoe size, perhaps?"

Alright, now he was definitely joking. Not that Arthur could blame him. It had to be a comical sight. The whole team was still staring disbelievingly at the thief, who by now had trouble to hide his amusement.

Arthur, who did not intend to make a fool out of him and his team, wiped every trace of bafflement out of his face and turned to Elyan.

"Elyan, please remember to do a background check on Merlin Emrys later. The rest of you, close your mouths, you look like carps."

Merlin was obviously having the time of his life. But strangely enough, he wasn't grinning gloatingly, or even sardonically. He simply seemed to enjoy the fact that he had been able to astonish his audience into speechlessness.

"Don't feel awkward. You know what? I laughed for nearly four minutes straight after reading the 'alias' the media has so kindly given me for the first time.

"At first, I worried that I might have to change my name. But then I thought, the best hiding place is and always will be the most obvious one. I've noticed early on that men tend to disproportionately often ignore exactly those places in their search that are the most obvious. Maybe because everybody thinks that no-one could be stupid enough to hide in _there_, which makes said place the most secure of them all.

"And I was proven right. Nobody ever came up with the idea to actually search for someone called Merlin. They all just searched for _'Merlin the thief'_ and completely ignored _'Merlin the normal citizen'_. It's rather funny if you think about it."

There was a short silence, but it was quickly ruined by Gwaine's guffaw. He shook his head and grinned slyly.

"He's right. I would never ever and not in a hundred years hit on the idea to peruse the phone directory for any Merlins. It's actually quite brilliant."

"Thank you, I take that as a compliment. But I assume you've got more questions than the matter of my name. So let's move on, shall we?"

"What kind of mother names her child 'Merlin' anyway?" Gwen though aloud. It took her about one second to realise that she had actually said that and blushed an alarming shade of red.

"Not that I think Merlin is a bad name! It's quite unique - but not in a bad way, in a… well, unique name and oh my god I'm sorry please ignore me, I'm babbling again aren't I?"

Merlin, who wasn't as used to these outbursts of Gwen-Awkwardness as the rest of the room, seemed to be equally amused, sympathetic and puzzled.

"That's… quite alright, I'm well aware of the rarity of my name. Rest assured, though, my mother had nothing to do with my naming, and she most certainly won't feel offended."

After looking in the quizzical faces of the team, he added: "Am I right to assume that I should have better kept the last part to myself?"

Morgana raised one of her perfectly manicured eyebrows and smirked.

"Oh, not at all. Although you might want to tell us the reason for said part, now that you've made us curious."

For a moment, it seemed as though the thief would object, but then he just shrugged and said: "I suppose it doesn't matter.

"My parents apparently weren't too thrilled with my birth and probably didn't want to bother about filling in all these tedious documents to put me up foradoption, so they just dumped me in front of a supermarket at the tender age of about a week.

"I was sent to the orphanage, obviously, and got a name from the Child Protective Services.

"They didn't name me Merlin, though. I didn't have what you would consider a 'carefree childhood' and therefore decided to leave everything concerning my infancy behind me, including my name.

"So the only person you could have insulted, Miss Gwen Smith, is myself and I certainly don't mind."

The silence that followed was not a pleasant one. Everyone was shocked, not only at the story, but also at the calm and indifferent way Merlin had told it, as if it didn't concern him.

"So," Percy piped up, "Merlin Emrys is _not_ your real name?"

Merlin smiled. "It is not the one I got as a baby, but I never considered that one to be my real name. And this 'old' name doesn't exist anymore anyway.

"I'm registered as Merlin Emrys, it is the name I rented my flat under – well, one of the six I have – and it's the name I use for my normal, everyday life. So in this sense, it _is_ my real one. And before you ask: no, I will not tell you my original name."

Gwaine exhaled deeply and flipped his hair. "Alright, my brain needs a breather from all this," He grinned mischievously, "I don't want to sound mean, but what does it feel like to know you have failed twice now because of us?"

At this, Merlin just gave his annoyingly knowing smile.

"Why twice? As far as I'm concerned, everything went perfectly to plan. Couldn't have gone better, actually."

* * *

**If you want to kill me right now, please tell me so via Private Messaging. Wouldn't want to scare away the other readers with the reviews, right? :)  
You'll probably want to kill me even more after reading this: Thanks to far too much homework and far too many exams in the next few days, it's possible that I won't be able to update as soon as normally. But I will update, don't worry.**


	11. Chapter Ten

12.5.2012, 9.29 am

The great glass door swung open and a young man entered. He wore a uniform of Royal Mail and carried a large parcel. After giving him a short once-over, the receptionist sighed and neatly folded the newspaper he had been reading.

The delivery boy came forward and glanced at the address of the package.

"Um, I have this delivery… there's no name on it, but the number of the office. Should I take it there or are you responsible for accepting consignments?"

The receptionist briefly thought of the newspaper article he had been reading. Then, he glanced at the young, nervous looking lad and sighed once more.

"Give it to me, I'll take care of it."

Evidently relieved, the delivery guy handed the parcel over and then practically shoved the clipboard with the delivery note into the receptionist's face.

"Great! Then I just need your signature for this and I'll be out of here. Oh, and another thing: the delivery is labelled as 'urgent', so if you could… you know…"

"I'll bring it up as soon as possible," the receptionist said dryly, slowly getting sick of this charade. The delivery boy just grinned.

"Alright, thanks. Have a nice day, sir." And off he went.

The receptionist shook his head. "These guys get more incompetent with every passing year…"

With one last, longing glance at his newspaper, the receptionist stood up and took a look at the office number that was given on the parcel. Fourth floor. The escalator was crapping out again. Oh well.

* * *

12.5.2012, 9.47 am

"**WHAT**?" Arthur shouted, "What do you mean with '_everything went perfectly to plan'_? We caught you! We got the memory chip back! You're going to go to **jail**!"

"Yes," Leon interposed, "How can you be satisfied with this?"

Merlin just smiled wider.

"Well, that's the actual brilliancy of the whole coup, isn't it? The most cunning plans are those that aren't unravelled until the very end.

"The truth is, I never actually wanted this memory chip. And I certainly didn't intend to sell it to Aredian Hunt. Who knows what kind of mischief he could have caused with it."

He winced slightly as eight voices simultaneously shouted: **"WHAT?!"**

"No offence, but you wouldn't have been able to catch me if I hadn't ensured it," Merlin said apologetically. Again, it was said without any trace of gloating or condescendence but in a neutral tone as if he was merely stating an obvious fact.

Not that Arthur gave a damn about that in this particular moment. He was too busy staring at the thief who had obviously lost his mind.

Morgana apparently overcame her shock faster than the rest of the team. She leant back, crossed her arms over her chest and fixed her most impressive glare on Merlin.

"So you seriously want to tell us that you have stolen a highly important memory chip only to let us get it back, arresting you in the process," she scoffed.

Merlin beamed. "**_Yes_**, exactly! I could have done it without the arrest, of course, but I didn't want to miss the chance to talk to all of you. Because even if you're not quite as good as I am, – no offence, again – you still are really good and I wanted to pay my respect.

"As for the memory chip: there was a very simple reason for me to steal it. It might sound egoistic, but this whole coup was solely to save my own neck."

"And how _on earth_ could stealing a memory chip and **getting arrested** _possibly_ save your neck?" Leon exclaimed, confused.

Merlin ran his fingers through his – already rather ruffled – hair in what could only be described as a sheepish manner.

"Oh, I see. I thought you would already have connected the dots. You see, Aredian already was a client of mine before I stole that memory chip. He was the one who hired me to steal Nimueh Priest's necklace.

"I assume you can all imagine that Aredian wasn't overly pleased with the outcome of this… admittedly rather painful failure.

"So in order to keep him from strangulating me there and then, I had to make amends, sooth him a bit. The memory chip simply was the very first thing valuable enough that came into my mind.

"Of course, I knew that I wouldn't get out of this predicament that easily. It was fairly obvious that Aredian planned to get rid of me as soon as I served my purpose. But betraying him to the police wasn't an option. He would have known it was me and hired a hitman to get revenge.

"Therefore, I only had one way of ensuring my continued existence: I had to make you arrest him, but without making it look like it was **me** who made you do it. Which in turn meant that I somehow had to let you know about the plan without raising the suspicion that I wanted you to know.

"It was quite a piece of work, actually."

Arthur couldn't help but feel a bit impressed by that.

"Switching the memory chips was the easiest part. You would think that the Ministry of Defence at least had a decent firewall, but no. I'm still not quite sure whether to be pleased or worried about that. They really should improve their security systems."

Elyan unconsciously nodded in agreement.

"Anyway. I assume you already know that it was me who was responsible for the water-pipe burst in Jason Stuart's flat. I made sure to pick someone who's insured, so it didn't cost him a penny.

"And after making sure you would know about my collaboration with Aredian Hunt, it was very easy to –"

"Whoa!" Gwaine interrupted, "We learned about Hunt because of a witness. Did you bribe him to give us false information?"

Merlin smiled slyly. "I never take unnecessary risks. And paying some man to give a false testimony for the police practically screams for trouble.

"Besides, it was rather funny to play the overexcited, annoying witness who can't keep his mouth shut for more than a minute. Very funny indeed."

"You," Leon said disbelievingly. "You were Gilli Brown?"

"Of course I was," Merlin replied, grinning. "It was the perfect opportunity to find out what you already knew and to make sure you would be close on Hunt's heels. Otherwise you wouldn't have known where to find us, right?"

Lance frowned. "But wasn't it a bit of a long shot to hope that we would just happen to find out that Cenred King rented an apartment, just because we were aware of Hunt's role in this whole coup?"

"Of course it would have been quite a stretch. Which is why I went to Mrs. Nemeth. She seemed like a very strong-willed, upright person to me and I was relatively sure she would tell her husband, who just happened to be a policeman and furthermore part of the TGF, about some slimy pervert who rented an apartment. And it seems I was proven right. I did not enjoy impersonating Cenred King, though. He is of a very… repellent nature. I'm sure Mrs. Nemeth would agree." Merlin winked at Leon, whose jaw had yet again hit the floor.

For about one second, there was silence. Then, Percy groaned: "You did not seriously just call us TGF, did you?"

Merlin chuckled. "Why not? It has a nice ring to it, hasn't it? And at least it's imaginative."

"Well, Gwaine here wanted to call us _'The Baddy-Busting Birdcatchers'_," Elyan said, miffed.

At this, Merlin actually laughed outright. "Nice. I feel so honoured. But I'm not sure it would look that good in a newspaper. People wouldn't take you seriously."

"See, Gwaine? Even Merlin thinks that name is ridiculous," Arthur said triumphantly. Then, he added: "God, we're so unprofessional. Pull yourselves together, guys."

Gwaine stuck out his tongue at Arthur, mature and grown-up man that he was. Morgana narrowed her eyes whereas Merlin simply shrugged.

"You can still use the written admission I will doubtlessly have to write. Speaking of which, I'd rather get over and done with it as soon as possible. So if you've got any other questions…?"

Morgana smiled her best shark-smile.

"But of course. I'll get you something to write. And should we think of any other questions, we will be sure to get back to you."

With that, she ushered the team out of the room and snapped at the first policeman she saw to get something to write.

"What the hell was that?" Arthur exclaimed as soon as the door was shut. The others seemed equally perplexed.

Morgana just rolled her eyes and glared at them. Hard.

"I'm the prosecutor, I know how to get Merlin behind bars. And since we can't use that recording, as you so very kindly observed, we need this written admission.

"If he now refuses to give any evidence, he might get away with everything! You can count yourself lucky if he doesn't already think of a way to destroy any credibility of his admission.

"Now go make yourselves useful and let me handle this. We can't afford any faux pass, no matter how small. This man in there is capable of anything."

The policeman she had snarled at returned with small stack of paper and some pens. Without deigning to look at him, Morgana snatched the utensils and vanished into the interrogation room. But not before giving the – not in the tiniest bit intimidated, _no_ – team one last glare.

* * *

12.5.2012, 10.24 am

Merlin skimmed the text he had written one last time and nodded contently.

_"Perfect. I must say, this meeting was far more satisfying that I thought it would be. I feel almost bad for them... Well, I'm sure they will get over it."_

The thief pushed the papers aside and bent down. With skill that only came with lots of practise, he retrieved a small, black box that resembled a matchbox from the cavity in the sole of his left shoe whilst simultaneously doing up the shoelaces.

It had taken him almost three days to develop this small device, but it was the pivotal element of his further plans.

With a small, cunning smile, he pressed the grey button on the upper half of the box. Then, after waiting exactly thirty seconds, he pressed the second, white one on the underside.

As the electronically secured door swung open with a silent buzz, Merlin pulled out the feather he had kept hidden in a secret pocket of his trousers and studied it swiftly. It was still intact and gilded completely from the quill to the tip.

He laid it down gently on top of the papers he had filled and then left the room with fast, confident steps.

He could hear the alarm blaring and the shouting of people. Then, there was a loud bang.

_"Ah, I already wondered when it would go off. Seems the delivery served its purpose perfectly. I should still make myself scarce as long as they are distracted, though."_

He strolled out of the building without being seen. Once he was on the pavement outside the police department, he looked back one last time.

"Goodbye, Arthur Pendragon," he muttered, "It's been a pleasure. But I'm sure we will meet again."

With that, he turned around and walked away.


	12. Chapter Eleven

12.5.2012, 10.24 am

Ewan wasn't entirely sure how his nice, normal day could have changed from nice and normal to absolutely disastrous in less than a minute.

It had been such a promising day, really. Nothing to do except typing out the final report of his last case and maybe going down to the archive to search for this old file Owain – his friend – needed before going to lunch with Owain in the small bistro around the corner that served delicious sandwiches, tidying out the office and going off duty at 3 pm.

But of course everything had turned out different.

He hadn't thought much about the package old Geoffrey had brought up. He hadn't expected a delivery, but Owain had mentioned something about means of evidence from a different police station he awaited, so he put the big, brown package onto the spare chair in his office and waited for his friend to come and pick it up.

He _had,_ however, paid the package a great deal of attention after it had started to _tick loudly_. Even through the layer of cardboard, the blinking red light had been clearly visible.

Which had him springing up like a scalded cat and running down the corridor in search of the next fire extinguisher and/or alarm button, only one thought in mind: _"Oh my god, there's a bomb in my office! OH MY GOD A BOMB!"_

He may have screamed the last part aloud, but in this moment, he couldn't have cared less.

Slightly out of breath, he reached the corner where he knew to be a fire alarm.

A few seconds after smashing the glass and pushing the red button as hard as possible, the package exploded.

And for the second time in only one week, the whole building erupted in chaos, noise and panic. And smoke. Lots and lots of smoke.

As Ewan threw himself to the ground along with everybody else in the corridor to shield himself from the blast wave of the explosion, he thought sulkily: _"Why didn't I just stay in bed today?"_

* * *

12.5.2012, 11.06 am

To say that Arthur was angry would have been a gross understatement. He was hopping mad.

With a red face that would put any tomato to shame, he stomped around in the interrogation room where – only half an hour ago – Merlin had sat, and screamed bloody murder.

The others, whilst being just as disgruntled as their team leader, where smart enough to keep quiet and let Arthur rage.

After another five minutes or so in which Arthur had nearly destroyed the interrogation table and exhausted his whole vocabulary of swearwords, he threw one last, murderous glance at the letter this _bastard_ had had the _nerve_ to write, and stormed out of the room without deigning to look at his colleagues.

Morgana scoffed and held a worried looking Gwen back.

"Don't. He needs to calm down and sulk in peace. Going after him would only result in tears and more shouting, trust me."

Then, she picked up Merlin's letter and shooed the team out of the room.

"Let's go. I think we all deserve an early lunch. The memory chip can wait."

She folded the letter and stuffed it into her pocket without looking at it. They all knew what Merlin had written.

* * *

_Dear TGF,_

_First of all, I would like to apologise for the mess I have undoubtedly made, although I imagine you really don't want to hear my apology right now._

_The package was harmless and not designed to hurt anybody. I have simply packed a red LED into it along with an alarm clock for the ticking and some fireworks to set off the fire alarm. And the igniter, of course. I hope nobody was near enough to get hurt._

_I know that I owe you at least an explanation, so I will tell you how I managed to escape this time._

_As you already know, Gilli Brown was me. But I used this opportunity not only to give you the information you needed for this plan to succeed and to spy on you._

_As Arthur gave me the tour around the building, I attached a small electrical device to one of the fuse boxes in the control room. It is black, 2.17 inches long and it allowed me to control the power supply of the electronically secured door of the interrogation room I knew you would put me in. (I knew it would be this one because it is the only one with an electronically secured door and therefore, the theoretically safest. That is rather ironic if you think about it.)_

_The igniter as well as this device were linked to the remote control unit I kept hidden in a secret cavity in the sole of my left shoe. If you look close enough at the CCTV footage, maybe you will see it._

_I am aware that you will not believe me, but I will tell you nonetheless: I have decided to retire from my business. With Aredian Hunt's money, I should be able to live a decent life and this coup, which was – if I dare say so – a masterpiece, was a worthy termination of my successful career._

_Do not be too disappointed that you couldn't put me behind bars. You have proven yourselves to be a truly remarkable team of very intelligent, devoted and constructive policemen and –women and I'm sure you will soon become very successful._

_And somehow, I have the feeling that we will meet again someday._

_Oh, and just in case you still need it:_

_I hereby admit to have committed each and every one of the 167 thefts I am accused of, except for the one in Belgrade. That one was a copycat named Edwin Muirden, but as far as I'm informed, he is still serving his sentence for trying to con the Swedish royal family. (Not the sharpest tool in the shed, he is.)_

_As for the memory chip: I'm sorry, I really am, but I didn't want to make it too easy for you. But don't you worry, there is no danger of it getting into the wrong hands. _

_In fact, I already gave it to you some time ago, you just didn't know it yet. It is hidden well, but I'm sure you are all smart enough to find it. Just think of all the times I had an opportunity to give you something. _

_Have fun searching!_

_Yours sincerely, _

_Merlin Emrys, Master Thief_

_P.S.: I couldn't help but notice that your department is responsible for dealing with this mysterious disappearance of the Fabergé egg in Kensington. Do not bother, it is an insurance fraud. As chance would have it, the Lady Arrington herself tried to hire me to "steal it for show" (her words, not mine). _

_P.P.S.: Please also note that Aglain Druid is not responsible for the bank robbery in Downtown London. The security system can only be shut down manually (I know this because I already experienced this kind of system) and to reach the right wires in the fuse box, you need either very long fingers (such as I have) or very slender wrists (which luckily I have, too). Aglain Druid has neither. _

_In fact, if you take this into consideration, the statistic probability that the bank robber was a man is far smaller than the probability for a woman. Therefore, I suggest you focus on female suspects. _

* * *

12.5.2012, 11.41 am

Elyan wasn't surprised that the memory chip was a fake. The letter had left very little room for interpretations in this regard, after all.

Like everything else, Merlin had planned this part of the coup thoroughly. The chip contained a handful of folders, all labelled and filled in proper programming language. Only that the texts scrambled an excerpt from Arthur Conan Doyle's "Sherlock Holmes: The Final Problem".

Elyan hadn't noticed it at first, it was covered up extremely well. And an amateur like Aredian Hunt would have had no chance of telling this text and a real program apart.

Merlin really had some wicked sense of humour.

Aredian Hunt and Cenred King weren't much help, of course. Hunt refused to give any evidence at all and barricaded himself behind a horde of lawyers. King was either too intimidated, loyal or stupid to be of any assistance. Elyan secretly assumed it was the last.

Arthur was still growling and snarling and "generally acting like some small sulky brat who lost his favorite toy" (Morgana's quote). Not that Morgana was any more enthusiastic about the whole thing.

Elyan briefly considered telling Arthur about his results regarding the memory chip. He _was _his boss, after all.

But then again, letting Arthur know for certain wouldn't help their situation and it definitely wouldn't improve his mood.

Therefore, Elyan decided to wait with informing the Pendragon siblings and consult with the rest of the TGF instead. (And dammit, he couldn't get this stupid name out of his head anymore!)

With a small sigh, he pressed _'print'_ on the keyboard and waited for his results to perpetuate themselves on the recyclable printing paper he only used to please Gwen.

As soon as the printing was done, he grabbed the sheets and stood up. Time to bring the bad news.


	13. Chapter Twelve

10.7.2012, 2.03 pm

The press had been horrible, of course. For days, every last gossip rag had shot the team down in flames. Not even the scandal of Prime Minister Bayard's tax fraud and his consequent resignation had managed to replace Merlin's last stroke of genius on the front pages.

Miraculously enough, nobody got fired. For that, Arthur was eternally grateful. He wouldn't have been able to forgive himself if one of his colleagues and friends had lost their position because of his failure. (Gwen kept repeating that it was not Arthur's fault Merlin had escaped, but she was _Gwen_. It wouldn't be like her not to defend him.)

Arthur suspected that things would have gone differently if they hadn't been able to return the memory chip to the Ministry of Defence.

* * *

_14.5.2012, 9.48 pm_

_It had been two days. Two days since Merlin escaped. Two days since he had left a letter in which he claimed to have already returned the memory chip to the team set out to catch him._

_Two nights in which Arthur had found no sleep. Two nights in which he had laid in his bed, wide awake and his thoughts running in circles._

_Arthur sighed and wriggled below his blanket. He was relatively certain that he would never be able to go to sleep until he held this cursed memory chip in his hands._

"Just think of all the times I had an opportunity to give you something."

_This one sentence was doing an endless loop in Arthur's head, going over it again and again, searching for a hidden meaning and finding none. _All the opportunities_…_

_Images flashed through Arthur's mind. _

A feather, gilded completely from tip to quill. Merlin's indifferent shrug as he told his antagonists the sad story of his life. Aredian Hunt, face twisted into an angry sneer. Gilli Brown, bouncing up and down in excitement. Merlin's first letter and the challenge it cont– Wait, WAIT A SECOND! Gilli Brown! Holy fuck!

_Arthur sat up bolt upright, eyes wide open, mouth slightly agape._

_"How could I have not __**seen**__ this?! This is brilliant!" he shouted, "Merlin, you really are one sly thief."_

_Without wasting another second, he jumped up and raced out of his bedroom._

* * *

10.7.2012, 2.05 pm

Arthur had been right. The chip had been exactly where he had thought it to be.

It had been in the letter all along. Arthur had simply searched for the crucial hint in the wrong place.

"_But I used this opportunity not only to give you the information you needed for this plan to succeed and to spy on you."_

Of course he hadn't.

After driving to the police department in such a haste it was a wonder he still had his driving licence, Arthur had sprinted down to the underground garage of the department and yanked open the passenger door of his own police car.

One flick of his wrist and there it had been. Sitting open and taunting in the glove compartment of his car.

He had known, oh he had just _known_ it that no person, no matter how much they adored the police, would go as far to inspect the _glove compartment_ of a police car this thoroughly.

And Gilli Brown – alias Merlin Emrys – had spent almost two minutes feeling up every single reachable thing in his car. Now he knew why.

This success had been drowned out (not to say ignored), of course, by the fact that the infamous Master Thief Merlin had yet again managed to elude justice.

But even though they had been the national whipping boys for days, most of the reporters had stopped harassing them eventually. Like every story these days, theirs too had lost its appeal after about two weeks.

Now, things were mostly back to normal. The team hadn't even been disbanded. Of course, they no longer had the job to hunt Merlin down. That was now the task of a team from Scotland Yard, some pompous, gloating deskjockeys who wouldn't know a thief if they stole them their badges. Even Gwen only gave them three weeks at the most.

Morgana had overcome her constant bad mood over Merlin's getaway and was currently slaughtering a rapist in court. Figuratively, of course. And if the man had seemed to be close to tears after the last hearing, well, he was probably just haunted by his bad conscience.

It seemed that Merlin was true to his word after all. There hadn't been one single extraordinary theft and no gilded feather for the last seven weeks. The great thief had stopped stealing.

He hadn't stopped writing, though.

Arthur stared at the last sign of life he had received from Merlin. It was the fourth e-mail. The first one had caused great excitement, but by then, Arthur merely rolled his eyes as soon as he saw the new message from his unlikely penpal.

The team had decided not to tell anybody about the mail they got from Merlin. Elyan had tried everything he could think of to locate the thief and failed each time. And if Elyan couldn't locate Merlin, there was no way in hell those idiots from Scotland Yard could.

* * *

_21.5.2012_

_Dear TGF (although I suppose you don't use that name anymore),_

_First of all: Do not bother to track this e-mail. I wrote a code that allows me to hack into your computers and rewrite the tracking system beyond recognition. Not that I have any interest in doing so. _

_But have a demonstration nonetheless: where would you like the detection you're undoubtedly doing right now to lead you to? Timbuktu in Mali or Sutina in Bosnia-Herzegovina?_

(It had been Timbuktu, of course. Merlin probably thought this to be hilarious.)

_Congratulations for finding the memory chip! I knew you would suss it out sooner or later._

_If you want Bayard to get __**real**__ problems, not only this laughable alienation of his last income tax, you should look into his Swiss bank account. The bank account number is as follows: CH84 3457 3903 4972 4571 9_

(As their colleagues from the tax authorities had found out later, Bayard had horded a few millions of illegal earnings in this bank account. The press had been delighted.)

_As for me, I'm trying hard to spent my money and become an honest man, but it's not very exciting to do so little. I need a hobby._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Merlin Emrys_

* * *

_29.5.2012_

_Dear TGF,_

_Please tell me that my new opponents are not these prize idiots from Scotland Yard. They wouldn't know a theft if it hit them in the face. I almost feel insulted._

(Gwaine had whooped loudly at that. The rest of the team silently agreed.)

_Elyan, nice try. The extra firewall kept me busy for three minutes and forty-six seconds, in case you're interested. (This is a compliment. I hacked the MoD in less than a minute. Without the new code. Do they have a new security system already? I haven't checked yet.) _

(It was a pity they couldn't answer the mails Merlin sent them. Elyan would have happily given Merlin a piece of his mind about the MoD's security system.)

_For today's detection I can offer you the Bikini Atoll, Butha Buthe in Lesotho or Clarksville in Tennessee. (The code randomizes data. It's always funny to see which locations it picks. My guess for next time is northern Asia.) _

_There is a racket up to mischief in Downtown London. I recommend you to keep a close watch on the cash machines in his area. One of the lads is called Mordred Black, but I don't know the details. I could find out, of course, but I don't see why I should when I pay taxes to support the police. _

_Also, there are some men who want to burglarise the Royal Academy of Arts. Their plans are destined to fail, they don't even have a layout plan of the building. I wouldn't worry if I were you. But if you want to get them, they will probably go for it within the next three days._

(They had gone for it two days after the arrival of the e-mail. Morgana had been very pleased to have some new victims in the court.)

_I still haven't found a job (or a hobby for that matter) that doesn't get on my nerves or dulls my mind. But I will keep looking._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Merlin Emrys_

* * *

_11.6.2012_

_Dear TGF,_

_Please do me the favour and laugh at your abysmal colleagues from Scotland Yard. If I didn't think it to be so funny how they mess everything up, I would be seriously insulted by now. _

_Elyan, you would make both your and my life much easier if you could just stop installing new firewalls and passwords. It doesn't work. And I think we could both use the wasted time for far more productive activities. (If you don't want to: Murun, Mongolia or Valday, Russia?)_

(Elyan, who made the detections just for fun at this point, merely scowled a bit and began to design a firewall that contained scrambled quotes of the movie "Ocean's Eleven".)

_I checked the MoD's security system. Whoever made it should be fired immediately. _

_Also, there is a man named Odin Ryan who is eagerly distributing forged cheques in London's suburbs. You might want to stop him, he will beggar innocents sooner or later otherwise. _

(The police chief himself congratulated the team after the arrest of Odin Ryan. Arthur started to feel bad for not telling him that his "infallible gut instinct" was, in fact, a very cheeky ex-thief.)

_I still don't have a job, but I did find a suitable pastime. I am not sure there is an actual name for it, but it mainly contains playing chess, Scrabble and Sudoku for time simultaneously. At least I can train my multitasking that way._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Merlin Emrys_

* * *

_9.7.2012_

_Dear TGF,_

_I am sure you are not supposed to hear that, but your superiors plan on promoting you. So congratulations in advance. _

_Everywhere I go I see other people planning or committing crimes. Maybe there is something wrong with me. Or I simply know what to look out for._

_Anyway, the bank robbers who raided 'Citibank N.A.' will most likely strike again, and if they maintain their strategy, my guess for their next target is 'Getco Europe Limited'. They will try to escape via tube. _

_There is a woman named Audrey Cook whom I noticed some time ago. I do not know what she is up to, but she is diligently stealing enough explosive and electrical supplies to build a bomb that could destroy the clock tower of the Palace of Westminster. (I calculated it, she actually could destroy the tower.)_

_You would probably do well to stop her before she blows something up for real, be it the clock tower or something else._

_Sadly, I don't seem to be good in any occupation except stealing. If you do know of a vacant job that requires intelligence, experience in stealing and no social skills whatsoever and that has something to do with crimes and field work, tell me and I will apply immediately. _

_Yours sincerely,_

_Merlin Emrys_

* * *

10.7.2012, 2.11 pm

Arthur stared at the letter. An idea had suddenly popped into his head. It was crazy and absurd and there was _no way in hell_ he would be able to do it. Plus Morgana would never let him live it down if he told her.

But still… the idea kept coming back; like a pesky blow-fly it buzzed around in his head.

After a few more minutes, Arthur wasn't able to take it any longer. He sighed, stood up and left the room to find his half sister and probably make a complete fool out of himself.

He found her in her office, where she was revising her speech for the next court hearing of the rapist. The man wouldn't stand a chance, if Morgana's self-satisfied smirk was anything to go by.

After exchanging routinely Welcoming Insults and the consequent Personal Insults (and yes, they had an insulting routine), Arthur flopped down on the incredibly uncomfortable client chair and prepared himself to voice the craziest idea he had ever had.

"You know, Morgana, I've been thinking. And after rereading Merlin's last letter, I got this idea."

Morgana snorted, "Oh, this is going to be marvellous. Arthur Pendragon not only thinking, but having an idea as well. I'm all ears."

Arthur merely rolled his eyes. "Just wait and listen. God, you'll think that I'm completely nuts."


	14. Chapter Thirteen

**I hereby dedicate this chapter to****_ Linnea.E_****, who wrote the 100th review. Special thanks to ****_ebonypol_****, who wanted to write the 100th so much. :)**

* * *

31.7.2012, 8.04 am

Arthur let himself into his office, briefly contemplating if it would be worth it to snap at Gwen to bring him tea. Probably not.

His day hadn't started what you would call… overly promising. He hadn't overslept – he never did – but his water kettle hadn't worked and the hot water in his shower had run out. So no morning tea and a cold shower for him.

And then, on his way to work, he had nearly ran a pedestrian over with his car. It had been one of those young, ignorant men with their earbuds on and the music turned up so loud they didn't hear the traffic noise any more. And instead of apologising like every normal, polite human being would, the guy just looked around a bit bewilderedly and walked away without a word.

Oh, and it was pouring. But since this was London, Arthur didn't even care. He was used to bad weather by then.

After deciding not to snap at Gwen and fetch the tea personally, he turned to leave his office and go to the common room where the largest supply of teabags was.

But suddenly, something laying on his desk grabbed his attention. It was a plain, white envelope.

Curious, Arthur went to the desk and picked it up.

His heart missed a beat as his eyes fell upon the handwriting. It was Merlin's, there was no doubt. The letter was addressed to him, Arthur.

Arthur became nearly giddy with excitement. Could it be…?

Without wasting another second, he sat down and grabbed his paper knife.

_30.7.2012_

_You're very clever, I am impressed. _

_Meet me at '_Kilgharrah's Coffee Shop'_. I'm dying to know what you have to say. _

_Do me the favour and come alone._

_If you're not and it's a trap, I will know and sever all further contact._

Kilgharrah's Coffee Shop

1 Warwick House Street

1.8.2012 10am

_Merlin Emrys_

"Yeeees!" Arthur threw his hand up in victory and fought hard not to do a happy dance.

A chuckle startled him out of his euphoria.

"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" Lance smiled and entered the office. He curiously glanced at the letter Arthur held.

"I take it that our… efforts regarding Merlin's problem were fruitful?"

And of course only Lance would be able to produce such a sentence without sounding pompous.

"Yes, they were indeed," Arthur grinned, "He wants to meet me. Alone, of course, but that was to be expected. Jesus, I can't believe we're _actually_ doing this."

Lance merely smiled reassuringly. "You can make it work, I know you can. We're all behind you. Elyan is ecstatic and even though Morgana keeps telling us how mad we are, I know she secretly approves, too. It's all up to Merlin now."

Arthur frowned. "Yes, that's the problem. If I were him, I would laugh in my face. Why on earth would he agree to this?"

Lance shrugged. "You won't know until you asked. And as I see it, Merlin does seem to like the extraordinary. And if this isn't unusual, I don't know what is. I think once he thought it over a bit, he will like the idea.

"And now come on, we have to tell the others. Morgana will probably sulk forever that she isn't allowed to come with you."

Arthur laughed. "Wow, Lance, that's pretty mean for your standards. But you're right, I can't wait to tell her that she won't accompany me to the meeting."

* * *

1.8.2012, 9.55 am

To say that he was nervous would be a gross understatement. He was a nervous _wreck_. And there was still no sign of Merlin.

Arthur sighed and ran a hand through his hair after glancing at his watch. Still five minutes to go.

The coffee shop was nondescript. It looked like any other coffee shop in London, except maybe for the owner, who seemed to be at least 150 years old, but somehow was still as agile as his employees.

Arthur stared at the tea he had ordered and tried not to tap on the table. He would be grateful for any kind of distraction; even Morgana's insufferable teasing seemed more appealing than waiting.

After contemplating their options, the team had come to the conclusion that sending Arthur alone would be the only way to contact the thief. Merlin was far to smart to fall for a trick and nobody wanted to jeopardise this – likely non-recurrent – chance.

"I must say, this is a pleasant surprise. Normally, my appointments tend to let me wait for at least five minutes."

Arthur nearly jumped out of his chair with shock. He had been so lost in thoughts he hadn't seen the ex-thief arriving.

Merlin smiled slyly. "I'm sorry if I startled you." He really, really wasn't, and they both knew it.

After sitting down and briefly scanning the menu, Merlin lent back in his chair and fixed his curious gaze on Arthur.

"Since I'm not exactly busy right now, we can take all the time we want, but I'd rather not beat around the bush and go straight to the point.

"It was quite ingenious to use your Intranet to let me know about your wish to speak to me. Although I wouldn't have put it past Elyan to send me a message composed of a scrambled firewall script."

They both grinned at that, but Merlin quickly became serious again.

"I gather you wanted to make me an offer?"

Arthur nodded and tried to look as confident as possible.

"I do. It may sound a bit crazy, but please think about it nevertheless.

"I'm hereby offering you a job. It requires intelligence and experience in stealing, and it deals with crimes. The field work is open to dispute and the social skills can be improved."

For a brief moment, Merlin just stared at him. Then, he threw back his head and laughed.

"Are you kidding me? You seriously want to tell me that **_I_**, of all people, should work _for the police_?! I'm not sure this would work overly well. I mean, I'm not stealing anymore, but I'm still in the top ten of Britain's most wanted criminals, not to mention other countries."

Arthur, who had expected this kind of reaction, refused to back down.

"You wouldn't be any more if you accepted."

At this, Merlin grew silent and leant forward.

"You're suggesting a deal? What are the conditions? There must be catch somewhere."

_"Oh great, here it is. Why on earth did I think this would be a good idea again?"_ Arthur thought. Out loud, he said: "Do you want to hear the positive or the negative conditions first?"

Merlin's lips twitched upwards. "Suit yourself. I'm willing to hear you out."

"Alright. It took me _ages_ to persuade the authorities that this won't end up in disaster, so please try not to stand up and go after five seconds of listening, alright?

"The main idea is as follows: You turn yourself in and in return, you get a deal. You will be working with a special task force that has the job to solve crimes concerning thefts, robberies, burglaries and possibly frauds as well.

You will get special conditions of probation. Your probation will last three years. If you break this probation, we'll lock you up. If not, you will be acquitted and a free man."

Merlin's expression was unreadable. He raised his left eyebrow and asked: "What kind of conditions?"

"You have to agree to carry a monitoring device with you so we can track you down any time. Kind of like an electronic tag. You're forbidden to commit any crime, but I think that one is obvious. And you will have to do what your supervisor tells you to do."

During Arthur's little speech, Merlin's right eyebrow had slowly but surely joined the other just below his hairline.

"So basically, I would have to give up any kind of freedom I have right now. Why should I do that?"

_"Alright,"_ Arthur thought, _"This is it. If I mess this up now, he'll never agree."_

"Because you'll be working with us. The TGF, I mean. And I'd be your supervisor."

There, he said it. If possible, Merlin's eyebrows went up even higher.

"I wasn't aware your team is responsible for this division."

"We aren't. Not yet, anyway. We will be if you accept the deal. Otherwise, we just … continue to do whatever it is we do now. Mostly whatever comes up."

Merlin made a thoughtful noise and continued to stare at Arthur as if he was trying to figure out whether Arthur was serious or not.

For several minutes, there was silence between them. Then, suddenly, Merlin leant back, face unreadable once again.

"What would you do if I said no? If I just stood up and left."

Arthur felt his heart sinking. So much for that.

"I'd let you go. That's what we agreed on, after all. I wouldn't like it, but I'd let you go."

"Hm. And what would happen if I said yes?"

"Well, I'd take you to the department with me. I would take you to Morgana and she would explain the finer points of the conditions of probation to you. And then… I guess we'd have to wait and see how it develops."

Arthur tried not to sound too hopeful, but Merlin probably noticed it anyway. If he did, he didn't show it, however.

After staring into distance for a few seconds, he sighed and stood up. Arthur followed suit.

"Alright. Give me a few days to think it over. I'll contact you to let you know what decision I made."

He smiled and began to walk away, leaving a gaping Arthur behind. Before he left the coffee shop, however, he turned around one more time and winked at Arthur.

"And by the way: your reflexes in traffic are excellent, although the honking was unnecessary. If somebody wears earbuds, they won't hear it anyway."

Arthur watched him quit the shop and smiled despite himself. Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all.


	15. Chapter Fourteen

12.8.2012, 7.27 am

Merlin opened the door and slumped down on the chair behind his desk, looking around. It was strange, working in a place where he would have to interact with other people. He kind of missed his quite, safe, organised desk in his hide- home. (It also was strange not to think of his domicile as a hideout, but a home. He never had a real home before and didn't quite know what to make out of this.)

After arranging his papers and logging in on his computer, he leant back and waited for the rest of the team to arrive, ignoring all the weird looks he got.

It had been eight days since he had turned up at the police department and accepted the deal, and by now, he wasn't sure if it had been the right decision anymore.

Sure, it was nice to have a job that didn't contain stealing and running away all the time.

But apart from having to wear a monitoring device, the behaviour of the other policemen was what annoyed him most. He hadn't expected them to be friendly to him, not to speak of accepting him, but was it really necessary for them to show their dislike this openly?

He could deal with the stares and the isolation, but the vicious whispers and pointed fingers behind his back were starting to take their toll on him. Not to speak of their physical way to show their dislike. It was almost astonishing how grown men and women could turn into teenage bullies that fast.

The only people who _didn't_ treat him as if he was dirt were Arthur and his team. And Morgana, of course. Morgana was the scariest woman Merlin had ever met and although he wasn't intimidated by her (which had impressed the rest of the team enormously), he assumed that she just liked him because he had "kicked Arthur's pompous ass". Not that he complained, though. Being at enmity with Morgana would be a nightmare.

After staring at his blank computer screen for four minutes and eleven seconds, he sighed quietly and began to make a list with the pros and contras of accepting this cursed deal.

Pro:  
1. He had a job.  
2. Said job was by far not as boring and mind-dulling as his last ones.  
3. Neither the pay, nor the conditions of probation were too bad.  
4. He was twenty-seven, for heaven's sake, it was about time he learned something about social interaction that didn't involve acting, lying to or stealing from his conversational partner.  
5. He had made a lot of people very happy with this decision. Granted, most of them showed a rather spiteful kind of happiness, but they were happy nonetheless.  
6. He was greatly impressed by the strong bond of friendship everyone in the TGF seemed to have. And maybe – just maybe – he hoped that one day, he would be able to feel this kind of affinity himself.  
7. He liked to study his new colleagues. Seeing them in their everyday life was far more fascinating than observing them from a distance. (By now, he knew enough about their personalities to guess the passwords of their computers with 94.8% certainty, but he never tried to check them.)  
8. He liked how Morgana was able to scare away his … less kind colleagues of the department with nothing but a snarl after they decided to shove him into doorframes yet again.

Contra:  
1. He was being shoved into doorframes and the occasional wall. (And wasn't that all mature and grown-up?) Merlin despised every kind of violence, especially coming from people who knew that they were superior in rank and strength.  
2. When they didn't shove him into doorframes, they snarled at him or whispered indignities behind his back, loud enough for him to hear.  
3. He had to wear this blasted monitoring device, which gave him the feeling of losing a part of his freedom.  
4. He was beginning to use swearwords.  
5. The computer he had to use at work was ludicrously slow, but he was forbidden to lay his hands on the hardware.  
6. He couldn't disguise himself anymore. Merlin wasn't sure what it said about his character that he missed the disguising so much, but the feeling of vulnerability he always felt in his true appearance didn't lessen.

After finishing the list, Merlin reckoned the significance of each argument. The conclusion was no different than the ones he had reached the last sixteen times he had prepared this list: The pros outweighed the cons. But only just.

Merlin sighed and stood up to fetch himself a cup of tea. (He had found out that, apart from him, Arthur and the receptionist were the only other human beings in this building who survived the mornings on a caffeine-free basis.)

Just as he was reaching the kitchenette in the common room, it happened again.

One of the officers who worked on the same floor slammed into him from behind, making him stumble and crash into the wall. Merlin felt his skull connect with the solid stone, he tried to grab the edge of the kitchen table, but his fingers slipped and his legs gave in. Merlin closed his eyes and fought to keep his composure.

The worst thing about this situation wasn't the pain or humiliation, not even the barely concealed sardonic laugher as he lay on the floor. No. It was the memories. Those cursed pictures and voices he could normally suppress so well were now flashing through his mind, mocking and haunting him mercilessly, making him want to curl up into a ball.

_Come here, you worthless little shit. You're not worth my spit, bastard. It's no wonder nobody wanted you. If I were your mother, I wouldn't have abandoned you, I would have drowned you in the drain where you belong. You think that hurts? I'll show you real pain. What are you going to do, hm? You're just a little bugger who's been kicked out by his own parents. You only get what you deserve._

And the officers didn't even know what special kind of torture they unleashed with every shove they gave him. Merlin could only imagine the expression of malicious joy in their faces if they only knew of his inner turmoil.

His thoughts were abruptly interrupted. He heard somebody shout and the laugher died instantly. Merlin recognised the voice. It was Arthur, and he sounded absolutely furious. Maybe he should get off the floor.

Merlin pulled himself up, brushed the dust off his clothes and winced at Arthur's rant, even though it wasn't directed at him. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know that it would be best to avoid Arthur right now. But Merlin knew that he would have to talk to Arthur about this sooner or later, so he decided not to make a bolt for it.

Up to now, the only person who had known about the physical… resentment had been Morgana. And she had only seen the harmless jostling, nothing like this. Merlin suspected she had done nothing because she wanted him to take care of the situation himself. Unfortunately, the two only options would be to fight back or to tell Arthur, and both were unacceptable. Merlin had sworn to himself to never, ever lay hand on somebody, except perhaps in a life-threatening situation. And asking for help was just as impossible for Merlin as writing a fantasy novel.

Arthur, it seemed, was done shouting at the other policemen. But there was a dangerous glint in his eyes as he made his way towards the ex-thief. Merlin took a deep breath and steeled himself for the telling-off that was undoubtedly yet to come.

But instead of shouting at him, Arthur merely stared at him intently and asked: "Has this happened before?"

Merlin quickly considered his answer. It would probably be best not to make Arthur even angrier. And he didn't need somebody to protect him, he could look after himself.

"No, everything is fine. I'll just get a cup of tea and go back to work."

Arthur's eyes narrowed. "Don't lie to me. Has. This. Happened. Before?"

Merlin sighed inwardly. He didn't want to have this conversation in front of everyone else. The whole room was silent, all eyes were on him. God, he hated to be the centre of attention.

"Just a couple of times. But I'm _fine_. There is no need to make such a fuss about it."

Apparently, this had been the wrong thing to say, because Arthur looked even more murderous than before. He grabbed Merlin's wrist and dragged him out of the room, ignoring everyone else. Merlin could practically _feel_ the stares of the other policemen on the back of his head.

"We two are going to have a nice little chat in my office. Now," Arthur hissed.

Uh-oh.

* * *

12.8.2012, 7.43 am

After slamming the door to his office shut, Arthur made a beeline for the sink in the corner of his room. He grabbed the towel and wetted it. His movements were calm and controlled, but inside of his head, fury was raving. Fury and guilt.

It had been his idea to bring Merlin here. He had been so proud, so _smug_ to have found a solution that pleased everyone. But now it turned out that he had been wrong.

He was Merlin's supervisor, he was responsible for him! How could he not have noticed? _A couple of times_, Merlin had said. He had been pushed around, _physically attacked_ by other policemen, and Arthur hadn't noticed. It was his fault this had happened.

"I can _hear_ you think Arthur, and if you are making yourself responsible which I am sure you are, stop right now. I'm quite capable of taking care of myself, thank you very much. I could have told you anytime I wished, had I thought I couldn't handle them."

Arthur spun around. It took all of his willpower not to shout at Merlin. Or to grab him and shake some sense into this stupid, stubborn skull of his.

"This is what you call 'taking care'!? They knocked you down and laughed at you face! And I take it not for the first time, either!"

Merlin looked defensive. "No, normally my balance is much better than that."

Which made Arthur want to tear his hair out. Or maybe Merlin's. Did this idiot genius even know the meaning of the term self esteem?

Arthur took a deep breath and walked over to thrust the wet towel into Merlin's hands.

"Here, you've got a nasty bump on your forehead. And let me get this straight.

"I know that for some weird reason, you think that you don't need help, but you're wrong. Everybody needs help some time or other, and asking for help doesn't make you weak. So stop trying to play the hero and just tell me if something is bothering you.

"I want this to work. I really, really want this to be the best solution for everyone, and that includes you, too. So if these scumbags bother you again, you _will_ tell me. Understood?"

Merlin nodded slowly. The towel was uselessly tangled in his hands as if he didn't quite know what to do with it. He seemed puzzled and a bit at a loss.

Arthur suddenly remembered the story Merlin had told them about his past and with a start, he realised that this was probably the first time in the thief's life that somebody had voiced genuine concern at his wellbeing. That thought made Arthur even angrier, but also saddened him.

Merlin shook his head slightly, as if to get rid of whatever he was thinking about and finally pressed the wet towel against his head where it had collided with the wall.

"Um, I think I should go back to my desk. And get my tea. So... thanks for the towel." Merlin smiled a bit awkwardly and turned to leave the office.

Arthur had already figured out that showing emotions wasn't Merlin's strong point, but it wasn't hard to see his rather clumsy attempt at gratefulness in his crooked smile. Arthur sighed and silently cursed himself for talking Merlin into accepting this blasted deal.

But then, just as he passed the threshold of Arthur's office, Merlin turned around again and said: "You know, I think this really _is_ the best solution for everyone. I'm glad I came here."

With that, he turned and left. Arthur smiled as all the anger and guilt he had felt suddenly vanished. They would get this right. It would probably take some time, and there would always be some jerks in this department, but Arthur was sure they could make this right. He had the best team he could wish for, and over time, Merlin would become an appreciated member of the TGF.

Everything would turn out well.


	16. Epilogue

**Bad news, guys. This is it, the last chapter. *sob* But before I proceed, I want to thank you all for your support and all the amazing feedback I got. Thanks to everybody who bothered to write me a review, thanks for all the favorites and follows. Special thanks to **_Lyra Grey,_** who hopefully won't sever all contact with me now that I don't have any chapters left to allure her with. Also a great thanks to** _Vernacular Jargon,_** who bore with me to the not-so-bitter end.**

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19.8.2013, 7.20 pm

It had been a long year. After his… unfavourable start, there had been more than one occasion in which Merlin had cursed himself for accepting the deal that had practically locked him into Arthur's team.

The last 372 days hadn't always been perfect, but right now, as Merlin sat in his flat which was – once again – crammed full of people because he refused to rent something bigger ("I will not buy a bigger flat just because you lot don't all fit around the table. Arthur can sit on the floor if he isn't able to keep his elbows out of other people's faces whilst eating."), it was nothing if not worth it.

Sure, there still were problems and they often fought about trivial things. (Merlin still couldn't understand why it was so _horrible_ not to know the TV series 'Doctor Who' and Arthur still tried to make him get a gun licence. Or at least take part in a self-defence class.)

But that didn't matter. They had managed to actually make it work. And somehow, they even became the most successful and effective division in not only their department, but in all of London as well. With a crime clearance rate of 98.9%, they were the best team for thefts and frauds in all of England.

Shouts coming from the kitchen jolted Merlin out of his musings.

"For fuck's sake, get out of the kitchen, Gwaine, or I swear I'll set your hair on fire with this lighter!" Morgana, unsurprisingly. Gwaine had probably tried one too many times to snitch the dessert. He could be like a five-year-old when it came to cakes or other baked goods.

Merlin smiled and resumed to stare out of the window like he had done for the last seven minutes and nineteen seconds.

Yes, meticulously counting the time was one of those habits he still hadn't been able to get rid of. He also still was somewhat emotionally stunted and haphephobic, but there had been at least some developments, too. By now, he was able to shake somebody's hand without cringing inwardly. He didn't feel uncomfortable in his own skin anymore and the nightmares had drastically declined over the last year.

A sudden hand on his shoulder nearly made him jump with shock.

"Sorry to interrupt," Arthur grinned, not looking sorry at all, "but dinner's ready. Lost in thoughts again? That seems to happen a lot lately."

Merlin could easily detect the faint hint of concern in Arthur's voice, but he decided not to pick up on it.

"I was just thinking about how much we accomplished. It's been more than a year now. Unbelievable how time flies."

"Yes, and it was a really good year, too. And you know what? That means I only have two more years to boss you around before your probation is over. I better make the most of it while it lasts, right?"

Merlin chose not to dignify that with an answer. Instead, he just snorted and stood up to join the others at the (as usually too cramped) table.

Arthur was right in one point, even though Merlin would never admit it. He had been distracted lately. The problem was, he had been haunted by an idea – more like a consideration, really – for weeks now, and it just wouldn't leave him alone. But like always, instead of just spitting it out, Merlin carefully pondered over it, compared his different options and tried to gauge every possible outcome of his decision. Hence his musing.

Merlin sat down between Lance, who was still wearing this ridiculous apron Leon had given Merlin for Christmas as a joke present (it was purple with yellow stars) and Percival, who rapped Gwaine over the knuckles as he tried to steal a filled puff pastry from the plate. Both moved over a bit in an effort not to touch him.

Merlin still couldn't quite wrap his head around the fact that there were people who actually cared about him. After living his whole life alone and isolated, it was almost surreal to have somebody _move over_ at a completely cramped table just so he didn't feel uncomfortable.

Merlin sometimes hated himself for not being able to enjoy other people's touches. He had seen Gwaine hug Elena after he had finally gathered the guts to ask her out and she accepted, he saw Leon playfully slapping Elyan on the back and he saw Gwen and Lance cuddling and kissing and making weird gushing noises at each other all the time. And although he could go without the last part, it always gave him a twinge in the gut. These people were _normal_, they didn't need to pull themselves together not to shy away from any kind of physical contact.

Although they had never directly confronted him about his haphephobia, Merlin knew his colle– friends had speculated on it more than once. And he had the uneasy feeling that they weren't so wide of the mark with their assumptions.

"If you don't stop staring into space all the time, I'll assume you have far too much time for daydreaming and bury you under a cartload of paperwork at work tomorrow."

Merlin blinked and looked over to where Arthur was sitting beside Gwen and Elyan.

"Just because you're abysmally slow with your reports doesn't mean you can force them on me, you know?" Merlin replied, grinning. One more advantage of being in this team: He had learned how to push all of Arthur's buttons. And it was hilarious.

Arthur spluttered indignantly, but before he had a chance to retort, Morgana stood up, shot him a very nasty look and cleared her throat. The table fell silent. (Everybody knew better than to interrupt Morgana when she wanted to say something important.)

"So, I raise a toast – or in this case, a puff pastry," she held one up and Gwaine scowled, "to the first, successful year with Merlin in our circle of merry friends and colleagues."

Merlin ducked his head as the others clapped and whistled. Morgana knew only too well how much he hated to be the centre of attention, and she never missed a chance to see him squirm in the headlights.

"I hate long speeches and since I would undoubtedly say something nasty sooner or later, I'll be brief. Merlin, it's been a very nice year with you. – I've never had this much fun in court before with all these bad guys you lot got me to crush in the trials.

"Folks, cheers for Merlin and his scary brain."

After some more clapping, a hearty pat on his back from Percival that nearly had him break his nose on the tabletop and a wink from Gwaine, everyone gave their attention to the food Gwen, Lance and Morgana had prepared. (And hadn't Merlin been surprised to learn that Morgana was and excellent cook. Although he never really trusted her not to poison his food. It seemed like a very Morgana thing to do.)

As he sat there, surrounded by people who were as close to a family as Merlin's imagination could allow (because since never having a family, he didn't really know what to expect of one), his… consideration crossed his mind once again.

And looking around, seeing how everybody seemed so strangely _content_ to be in his presence, Merlin made up his mind. It was time for the truth.

"Colin," he suddenly burst out, because damn it, emotions still weren't his strong point and this was bound to turn into a disaster.

The whole table fell silent. Gwen frowned and asked: "Who?"

Merlin was kind of glad he never showed any physical reaction to stress, or he would have definitely blushed right then.

"Colin Morgan. That's my name. My… my real one, I mean. The one I had first." Good god, he was babbling like a dense idiot.

Everybody just stared at him without saying anything, but judging by the smiles that grew on their faces, it wasn't an awkward silence. Not for them, anyway. Merlin wanted the ground to open and swallow him up.

Since nobody said anything and Merlin couldn't bear the silence and stares anymore, he dropped his gaze and began to tell them his story. There was no backing down now.

"Nobody really knows when I was born, but it must've been around the New Year's Day 1986, since they found me on the 9th January and I was about a week old back then. I was found by an old man named Anhora Ucorn. He was working for the supermarket, in the backyard of which he found me laying between rubbish skips.

"I was sent to the orphanage. The name I got from the Child Protective Services was Colin Morgan.

"The orphanage was a nightmare. The directress was a horrible woman named Catrina Tregor. She was miserly, criminal and violent, and she treated us like the scum of the earth. The only times she was relatively nice were during the visits from the youth welfare service. All children were terrified of her.

"She coerced us to beg. We were kicked out on the street before breakfast so we looked hungrier and if somebody didn't 'earn' enough money by the end of the day, they were beaten up. So naturally, we began to steal to prevent getting hit.

"My first pick-pocketing was at the age of five. I soon discovered that I had a natural talent for stealing things. That wasn't overly surprising though, given that I had a natural talent for about everything except singing. I taught myself reading and writing at the age of three and mastered the basics of mathematics by the time I was four. Not that it was much help to me.

"I started to steal books. It didn't matter what kind of book, I just wanted to learn _more_. But after a while, I discovered that the most informative books for my situation were crime novels. I read every single one I could lay my hands on and used the plots of the books as inspiration for my own thefts.

"Soon enough, I started shoplifting as well. The stolen goods we sold off at flea markets. And sometimes, after a very successful day, I saved some of the money for Will and me.

"Will was my only friend back then. He was about a year older than me and always tried to protect me. Not only from the troll, as we called Miss Tregor, but from the other children as well. You can probably imagine that I never quite fit in with the others. Too small, too scrawny – which is saying something since none of us were exactly well-fed – and too, well, _abnormal_.

"But we always stuck together. If one of us didn't earn enough money, the other would give some of his. If Will was hungry, I would give him something of my food and if I was being bullied by the other children, Will would come and scare them away.

"In February 1995, Will died of pneumonia. He could have been saved if the troll had only brought him to the hospital, but that would have _cost money,_ money we weren't worth in her eyes.

"That day was the only situation I remember in which I lost it. I screamed at her, I tried to hit her, even managed to get hold of a knife. How could she have done this to Will? She had let a small, barely ten year old boy die just because it _would have cost money_!

"I didn't get to do anything, of course. She took away the knife and beat me up like never before. In retrospect, I suspect she broke a few of my bones, because I wasn't able to even sit up properly until days after that incident. Although I probably wouldn't have been able to do so even with all my bones intact.

"I was in some state of shock, unable to do anything except staring into space. I remember that I didn't cry. I never cried, not even back then. And I know that I began to make plans during this time.

"Will and I had always talked about running away. Going to somewhere far away, where the troll couldn't get us. We never did though, because there had once been an attempt at running away. The girl was found by the police and brought back five days after she left. Two days later, she mysteriously fell down a staircase and broke her neck. Nobody tried to flee ever since.

"But after Will died, I lost every fear I had of the troll. I suppose it didn't matter to me anymore, I felt as if I could die as well and not feel any worse than I already did. At least the pain would go away.

"I didn't plan my suicide, though. I planned revenge. It was the first and only time I really wanted to take vengeance on someone. So I planned for weeks, I went to all the places I would have to visit and reconsidered every little detail.

"On May the 23th 1995, I set my plan in motion.

"After getting kicked out of the house to go begging, I went straight to the town administration. I knew exactly when the secretary in the registry office would leave the room to get her morning coffee. I used the time to get in, get my certificate of birth and get out again without being seen.

"After that, I waited until lunch. The troll always went to a cheap restaurant for lunch and stayed there for 35 to 40 minutes. I broke into her office and stole all documents and records concerning me. I also cracked her safe and took everything she had stashed away in there.

"Then, I went to a phone box and gave the youth welfare office an anonymous tip to make an unexpected visit at the orphanage. After that, I took the next train leaving the station. It took me to Worcester. In the evening, after I found a cheap motel to stay the night in where I wasn't being asked for my parents, I took all my records and burned them by the river Severn.

"As I sat there on the riverside, I saw a small falcon sitting on a wall not fifteen feet away from me. It was beautiful and I wished I were a bird, so I could fly away and leave my past behind.

"The next day, I went to the library and looked up what kind of bird I had seen the other evening. It was a Merlin. In this moment, I knew what I wanted to name myself. I named myself Merlin and paid someone to counterfeit a new identification card. Colin Morgan didn't exist anymore. From then on, I was Merlin Emrys, born on the 23th May 1986. I've never regretted this move.

"There's not much to tell after that. I started my career as thief, became better and more creative over time and taught myself everything I know now. I stole hundreds of books and gave myself my own, personal education.

"I've never been to a school and I never set foot in a university, but at the age of twenty, I knew enough to keep up with any professor.

"I began to steal for other people, to accept jobs from rich people who wanted to have things that weren't theirs. The first gilded feather I left at a crime scene was at my first successful job, on April the 7th 2002.

"After that, I became infamous. The feather became my signature and I became the best thief in all of Great Britain.

"There have only been three incidents that concerned my past over the years. The orphanage was shut down and Catrina Tregor arrested for child assault three weeks after I made that anonymous call. The children were brought to another institution, where they were being cared for under strict supervision. Tregor got seven years' imprisonment, because after the whole affair had become publicly known, everybody bayed for her blood.

"The second time was in May 2005. On the 30th May, Colin Morgan was officially pronounced dead. I read about it in the newspaper. After Tregor's arrest, the police looked closely into all suspicious occurrences, namely the death of the girl that tried to run away and my sudden disappearance. They managed to charge Tregor for manslaughter in the case of the small girl, but they found nothing concerning me. So they reported me missing and ten years later pronounced me dead.

"On November the 18th 2010, I met one of my old fellow sufferers. His name is Daegal Wood, he is about half a year younger than me. When I met him, he was manager's assistant in a well-known service company. Except for a distinct OCD, he seemed perfectly fine to me. He even got married."

Merlin, who was a bit out of breath by the time he came to an end, smiled his awkward, crooked smile and shrugged.

"And that's it, I guess. I just… thought you might want to know."

The whole room was eerily silent. Dinner long forgotten, the whole team sat there and stared at Merlin, who was beginning to feel uncomfortable and wished he had kept his mouth shut.

In the end, it was Gwen who gathered her wits first. She shook her head slightly and smiled warmly at him.

"Well… You know, in my opinion, Merlin suits you far better than Colin. It's more… you."

Merlin gave her one of his One-Million-Gigawatt-Grins (which were normally reserved for gloating after winning a bet against Arthur).

"I thought so, too. Thanks, Gwen."

Slowly but surely, the others seemed to come out of their stupor, too.

Leon shook his head in amazement: "Considering all of this, it's no wonder you turned out… well, the way you are. I mean, so nice and considerate." Leon blushed a bit.

Merlin raised an amused eyebrow. "And it explains most of my characteristics that aren't so nice, am I right?" Leon blushed a bit more.

"It's alright. I always knew that I would never be able to get rid of all the reminders I still have from this period."

Arthur leant back in his chair and crossed his arms.

"Well, if you're all done gaping like carps, could we finish dinner now? It's getting cold already."

This comment got him many snorts and a shove from Gwen, but Merlin gave him a grateful smile as everybody did indeed stop gaping and started eating again. Arthur just smiled back and gave him a small nod.

As Merlin dug into his meal, he couldn't stop smiling. There still were things the others didn't know about him, but it was a start. And Merlin was more than willing to give it a try. He couldn't imagine a better family.

...

This attitude lasted for exactly fourteen minutes and twenty-seven seconds. Then, Gwaine loudly declared it was time to get Merlin thoroughly pissed in order to celebrate. It all somehow escalated into Elyan falling face first into the dessert and Gwaine setting his beard on fire. But Merlin was still willing to give it a try.

**The End**

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**That's it, I'm done. But if you're not already sick and tired of me, check out the ****_Announcement_**** in the following chapter! :)**


	17. Announcement!

**Sorry, still not done! :)**

**Even though the story really ****_is_**** finished now, I'm reluctant to let go of the TGF. And since I hope you all enjoyed the story, I hereby declare ****_The Great Request Show_**** open! *fanfare***

**And yes, I actually called it ****_The Great Request Show_****. (I'm so horrible at titles it isn't even funny.)**

**If any of you have an idea for a one-shot you want me to write that is featuring our dear (ex-)thief and the team, write me and I'll see if I can put it on paper (or my keypad, depending on which is closer).**

**I have a few ideas myself, so write me if you want to see any of them realized:**

1. Merlin and Arthur are invited to the TV show "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?". Merlin thinks it's hilarious, of course.

2. The team finds out that Merlin never celebrated his birthday before and sets out to throw him the best birthday party ever.

3. Merlin gets dragged into a Theme Park because he never went to one before.

4. The team suspects a gang of bank robbers to raid a bank, but something goes wrong and they are still in the building to take precautions when the bank raid starts.

5. If wished, a closer look into the daily lives of the team members can be arranged, too.

**Sooo, just write me a review or a PM and I'll get started!  
(Chances are that I'll probably write at least one of those ideas anyway, but encouragement is always welcome. :D)**

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**NEW ANNOUNCEMENT! **

**As you can all see, I updated this story. After I finally got my great beta back, I decided to replace all the uncorrected chapters (10-Epilogue) with the corrected ones. Therefore the update.**

**I also thought since I'm already fiddling around with the story, I might as well tell you how the results of ****_The Great Request Show_**** turned out. (Jesus, what was I thinking!? This name is ridiculous!)**

**I'm already writing the first one-shot, which is the suggestion 4. It got 12 votes. (And it's already longer than 4,500 words. So much for being brief...)**

**I hope we'll meet again once I get off my backside and finish the one-shot! Until then, goodbye.**


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